The Dark Dame
by OneHorseShay
Summary: The Mob has quietly ran Gotham City for decades but 'The Bat' and a mad green haired clown threaten to bring their whole world down on top of their heads along with Metropolis' 'Man of Tomorrow' making an unexpected appearance to complicate things further for the criminal underworld. (Jade/Freddie, Sam/Beck, Sam/Cat Friendship) Fusion Fic.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: I know, I have plenty of other stories on the burners that need updating, but I'm trying to work on them with my new schedule. I'm hoping to get a number of other things updated over the next few days before Monday and that I've finally worked out my new schedule to start updating on a regular basis again. I didn't realize that I hadn't updated 'iGuess We're Roomies' since early October, sorry about that.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this opening preview of a story I hope to started updating at the beginning of February.

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The Dark Dame

By OneHorseShay  
Disclaimer: I don't own the following characters and my writing does not reflect the views of the respective owners. These intellectual property rights are owned by their respective owners of Dan Schneider, Nickelodeon, Viacom and Warner Brothers/DC Comics. (Okay, a little different from my normal Disclaimers of "Don't Own, don't sue. For God Sakes, don't sue", but I wanted to be a little clearer.)

Rating: Max T Language, Violence, Adult Themes and Content

Established Pairings: Sam Puckett/Beck Oliver, Cat Valentine/Robbie Shapiro (Cabbie), Puckentine Friendship  
Possible Pairings: Jade West/Freddie Benson

Summary: The Mob has quietly ran Gotham City for decades but 'The Bat' and a mad green haired clown threaten to bring their whole world down on top of their heads along with Metropolis' 'Man of Tomorrow' making an unexpected appearance to complicate things further for the criminal underworld.

Prologue

_In the year…_

Barney Triplet with his twin bother, Billy, nervously and quietly crept towards the back of the store front property on the overcast night with an oncoming thunderstorm rumbling over their heads. It was a little mom and pop deli shop on Park Road, as of late a particularly crime free street of Gotham City to the people and businesses in the area, but it came with a price. Unfortunately for the shopkeeper and his wife, they had refused to pay and in the morning would see the error of their choice.

Billy noticed his brother's apprehension, much to his irritation. He rolled his eyes then hissed when they reached the back door, sledgehammer in hand, "We've been over this Barney. It's simple; we break in, trash the place just a little bit then we come back tomorrow and tell him we can get his stuff back and make sure something like this doesn't happen again—for the standard fee. Boss's orders."

Barney looked over his shoulder and around for the fifth time in less than a minute then muttered, "The boss isn't here, he's out partying somewhere living the high life while we're stuck doing this. I don't like being out here Billy, not this late at night."

Billy raised his sledgehammer, readying to hit the deadbolt of the backdoor, but stopped to quickly asked, "What are ya talking about? You've never complained about the job before and why are you suddenly all afraid of the dark?"

"It's not the dark I'm afraid of… it's what's in the dark. You didn't hear about what happened to 'The Shadow Hammer'?"

"The guy that stole D.A. Shapiro's car after that robbery? The cops put him in the hospital before they sent him to jail."

The other twin shook his head. "No, I heard 'The Bat' got him and left him to the cops with his arms and legs broken. A giant, supernatural bat-thing straight out of Hell."

"The Bat? There's no Bat just like there's no Skunk Ape. You've been reading too many of those urban legend magazines and tabloids."

He turned back to the door and lifted the sledgehammer. He took a swing at the lock and it shattered, sending the door swinging backwards into the store. He looked back to this brother and motioned his head back into the deli and demanded, "Now come on—"

He didn't finish as his attention was caught something behind and above his brother's shoulder.

Barney whispered in dread when he saw the expression on his brother's face, "What?"

Billy dropped one end of the hammer to the ground and barely hung on to it with his other while pointed behind his finger past Barney towards what he was seeing.

The second brother slowly turned and saw what had terrified his brother: another flash of overhead lightning illustrating a dark figure with what looked like a flowing shadow blowing to their left on the opposite building of the alley and his expression was replaced with a look of horror.

The shadowy figure started to take shape until the brothers could clearly see that it was wings—wings of a giant bat.

The brothers' hearts nearly stopped… then they both wet themselves as a line shot out from the dark shadow and the figure started swooping down on them.

* * *

The unmarked Cadillac police car sped around one of the patrol vehicles parked in front of the shop and pulled up to the curve. The detective nearly leapt out of the car to see what had been so urgent over his police radio. "Son of a…" Detective Vega whispered as he saw the burglars with bruised faces slowly swaying back and forth as their feet were tied to a line of the overhead streetlight. He could hear them hysterically mumbling about a giant bat while the uniformed officers and a few firemen were trying to figure out a way to get them down.

_In another part of the city…_

In the back of another typical store front property that looked just like the mom and pop shop along the streets of Gotham that Billy and Barney were attempting to trash, however this store had entirely unwholesome things occurring in their large backroom meant for storage: gambling tables of all shapes and sizes were setup with dozen of patrons dressed to the nines surrounding them and throwing away small fortunes with untaxed liquor flowing like milk and honey. This was the speakeasy for the one-percenters of Gotham City and quite above the law in the possibility of being raided or so they thought…

The front and back door busted open with several men plowing their way through with the patrons assuming they were being raided as unlikely an event that may be. However, the sound of several shotgun blasts sending the security into the floor with gory holes in their chests and the rattling of a Thompson submachine gun blasting towards the ceiling dashed those thoughts.

The terrified patrons looked on in heart gripping fear as several well dressed gentlemen wearing Halloween clown masks spread out to secure the gambling hall with a young lady lazily taking the center of attention.

She wore black eyeliner in her eye socket that extended all around by about an inch to cover her as if she was wearing a mask like the Lone Ranger. Her blond hair was parted down the center and tied in bunches. One end of her hair was painted black and the other red. She wore a strap supported black and red bustier holding her supple and ample bosom that stopped just above her exposed bellybutton and midriff. Her outfit was completed with hip hugging black (right leg) and red (left leg) leather pants leading to black military boots.

Any sexual attraction the males in the room may have held at the sight to the twisted Harlequin, they were more fearful with the Thompson submachine gun in her hand with the 50 round drum magazine pointed at them. She shouted with a high pitched, but harsh voice, "Alright boys, empty your pockets then step away from the tables. Don't try to be reaching for your cash or guns if you're carrying."

One was foolish enough to try to reach down to grab some cash and the hellish clown turned the submachine gun on him. She let out a burst of fire, riddling him with bullets, his blood splattering blood on the table and neighbors. The fire and the cold blooded killing sent the others patrons diving to the floor and under the tables.

She shouted in outrage and waved the Tommy Gun around, "I said no touching the money!"

The clientele trembled in fear and didn't make a move as a final person lazily walked into the gambling hall carrying a sawed-off shotgun and he definitely stood out from the rest of the robbers.

His face was covered in white makeup, black makeup over his eyelids and in his eye sockets and red lipstick on his lips that extended halfway up his cheeks. His shoulder length hair was dyed green and quite stringy. He wore a long purple coat that extended to his knees with matching slacks, a green vest, oddly pattered grey dress shirt and tie.

He wore a manic smile, enhanced by the makeup and stated with a chilling conversational voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for interrupting your fun evening, but… we are here to relieve you of all your ill-gotten gains to put in our pockets. I'm almost like Robin Hood—I steal from the rich and give to myself." He started manically laughing.

The patrons remained in place as the rest of the Halloween clown wearing men quickly grabbed all the money off the tables to stuff in bags while two of the robbers covering the back dashed into the money room to bag the winnings for the night.

One of the huddled individuals defiantly called out as the obvious leader in purple casually walked past the table he was partially hiding under, "Do you have any idea who you are robbing from?"

The green haired 'freak' stopped in his tracks and turned his attention to the brave man. He squatted down softly chuckled then calmly answered, "Of course I know who I'm robbing—that pretty boy wannabe actor, Beck Oliver. That's why it's so much fun." He started laughing again, going from very soft to nearly manic in just a few seconds, sending a slight shiver down to the man's gut.

The white faced clown stood up and glanced towards his female companion. He casually remarked, "Burn it to the ground Harley."

"Yes Mister J." She raised her Tommy Gun up and fired another burst, terrifying the patrons again. "Now if none of you want to become roasted like a Thanksgiving turkey, you'll get out of here! Deuce?! Get mama her gasoline!"

The ones nearest to the back door did not need to be told twice as they stood up and dashed towards it. The clown masked gentlemen standing on either side of the door stepped aside to let them past instead of being consumed in fire.

Several minutes later from the rear seat of Cadillac, the nightmarish harlequin rested her head on the purple colored jacket shoulder of her companion while they watched the store be consumed in flames and panicking the mid-evening travelers on the streets that the fire would soon spread to other businesses. She approvingly muttered, "I love a good light show."

The clown affectionately smiled and whispered, "I know darling. Why do you think I let you do it?"

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I hope you enjoyed this prologue and will tune in when it really gets started. Thanks to everyone that continues to read my stories and I hope you have a Happy New Year.


	2. Introductions are in Order

Author's Note: Happy New Year! I thought it was kind of cruel of that teaser chapter. Since I had his one done, I'd thought I'd post it. The best thanks you can give me is a review and a prayer to whatever deity you worship that I will continue to have free writing time to get my other stuff done for you, my loyal readers. This new job _really_ cuts into my writing time.

Rating: T

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Chapter 1

In one of the conference rooms of the many offices in the Ellsworth Building, Mason Thornesmith laced his fingers into joined fists and brought them to his mouth while resting back in his seat. His back was to a large window that allowed for the viewing of nearly the entire cityscape of Gotham City as he sat at the end of a long rectangular table with a dozen other gentlemen divided evenly on either side of the table.

Eli was the first to speak, though quite hesitantly, "My guys are getting skittish going out at night. They're…" He looked to Mason. "They're afraid of… of the 'Bat'."

Several of the attending gentlemen laughed out dismissively, but not all of them. Their laughter quickly ceased as they looked around the table and saw some of their colleagues were having the same concerns.

One of the ones that were laughing, Randy Bronson answered in a clearly trivializing tone, "They're just starting an urban legend. They have nothing better to do to entertain themselves."

Eli found his nerve after being mocked and shouted, "Entertain themselves? They're finding any excuse not to go out and make money! They're too afraid to go out and make money! I'm down nearly twenty percent over the last several months. Two of my guys are sitting in the slammer and babbling like mad over 'The Bat', 'The Bat' after last night. The cops found them hanging upside down swinging from a lamppost beaten nearly to a pulp."

Another caporegime spoke up with a laugh, "Big deal, a few of the hired help is off the streets. They can easily be replaced and if they're afraid of their own shadow then it's better they're gone. They can be replaced and besides, it could be worst. We could have that circus freak from Metropolis butting his nose into our business."

Mason suppressed his rage at one of his captains trivializing such an occurrence while at the same time suppressing a shiver at the possibility of having to deal with such a problem which one of the other gang bosses, Shawn Quincy, pointed out with a dark tone, "We should be keeping as much of a low profile as possible so we don't draw his attention and he decides to pay us a visit—even if it cuts into our potential profits. He's tearing the organization apart in Metropolis—literally."

Mrs. Lee spoke up with a high pitched and annoyed tone: "You worry too much about the 'circus freak'."

Quincy stood up from his seat and shouted in outrage, "That 'circus freak' can lift a car above his head like a toy and is bullet proof. I've heard they've hit him with everything short of an artillery shell and it's bounced off of him!"

Mason raised his hands and cut Mrs. Lee off before she could start a shouting match, "Enough about the 'Superman'. He's not our problem. This… this 'Bat' is our problem. Some of you may laugh, but half of you aren't—that's half of our potential profit in jeopardy over some clown in a costume."

Randy shouted, still unconvinced of such a creature even if his boss was acknowledging such a thing, "There is no 'Bat'!"

A dry, bored voice called out at the end of the table, "Urban legends don't leave Eli's associates dangling upside down with a sledgehammer and burglary tools around their necks with a bow on them for the police. Dickers can't cover that up and Robbie won't ignore it as D.A. We—_I_ can't ask him to do such a thing. There's no point in debating it, just what we should do about it, but this 'Bat' isn't our only problem. You speak about a clown and that's who we should really focus on, that purple dressed goofball with green hair that started torching our joints after robbing us blind. He's our main problem. The 'Bat' won't let us run the streets, but this freak in a purple costume won't let us run our gambling halls… mine was burned to the ground last night he and his crew stole all the cash for this month, so don't expect this month's cut from me or Steven's or Ryder's. Weren't their places burnt to the ground too?"

The other members of the table looked back and forth between their boss and the outspoken caporegime, but none replied.

Mason put on a half smile and asked, "Do you have any suggestions Beck?"

The long haired young man had his feet propped up at the edge of the table while he idly drew a playing card from the deck in his other hand. His dear and drop dead gorgeous blonde associate, Sam Puckett, dressed in a mid-thigh length, eye-catching midnight blue curve hugging dress with a keyhole cut-out on the front that displayed a healthy amount of cleavage, rested her forearm on his right shoulder and kept a cautious eye on each of the gathered gangsters.

He shrugged his other shoulder while he answered, "It's simple; we bring this… what should we call him… 'Joker' into the fold to stop him from messing with our business and have him kill the bat-creature. He certainly has a talent so far in destruction."

Ryder shouted out, "You want us to hirer a madman?!"

Beck dropped his feet off the corner of the table and spun to face Mason down the table, ignoring his associate as he wasn't the one he needed to convince. "How many arsonists and hitmen do we outsource to keep our hands clean? What's one more that can do both?"

Mason paused for an instant, contemplating Beck's question and already seeing out to the conclusion his young enforcer wanted him to reach.

Steven spoke up in a sharp hiss, "I say we run him to ground and kill him. He burned my place to the ground and Ryder's and yours too. Why would you want him to get away with it?"

Beck this time decided to answer a question from another associate of his, "Because I'm willing to take a short term hit for a long term investment. Think about it: who would go after us if they had to worry about us unleashing him on them: a shotgun blast to the face or being roasted alive as your house burned down over your head?"

The others looked uneasy, but they were seeing his point. Mason looked steadfastly guarded, carefully considering Beck's words but not hinting at leaning one way or the other.

Quincy cautiously asked, "How do you control a madman?"

They long haired young man looked to the other crime boss and casually answered, "I have my doubts about him being a madman. He's obviously in it for the money and burning our joints down is him sending a message—"

Steven snarled out, "Yeah, the message that he wants us to put him six feet under."

"Perhaps, but greed is obviously his motivation. We just have to pay him fairly."

The head of their little organization quietly asked, "How would we find him?"

"If he can hit our places without any trouble, hearing about asking for his services shouldn't be too hard when we put word out on the streets."

Steven shouted out, "You can't be serious Mason. He burns my joint to the ground and can get away with it?!"

Mason patiently answered, "I would let him get away with it because Beck's right: our business is for the long term and he can be a valuable asset. He'd compensate us with his services."

"And if he's not?"

The crime boss darkly remarked, "Then you 'run him to ground' then bring me his head then kill the damn 'Bat'."

He quickly stood up and buttoned the front of his business blazer. "If there is no other business gentleman, I have to get ready for a banquet to attend at West Manner in support of our fine police force. I have to keep up appearances." He turned and started heading out of the back of the conference room with his bodyguards without another word.

The others got up from their seats to head out to their respective business, some planning to join their boss at the benefit banquet.

Sam dropped her arm off of Beck's shoulder as he stood up and he offered his arm to her. She looped her arm around his arm and the pair turned to head the other door, a number of gangsters watching the blonde's swaying hips and staring at her tightly wrapped dark dress ass.

As the heads of the crime syndicate of Gotham got up from their seats and filed out, Steven held back to speak with Quincy and motioned his head towards Ryder to suggest he join them.

The sandy blonde remarked in a low whisper to his boss' semi-rival fellow family boss, "We can't bring this clown freak into the fold."

Quincy glanced around to see the others beside his own personal guard had left then quietly remarked, "I know a _professional_—not a madman—from South America that can deal with the clown and this 'Bat'. We just have to make sure Mason doesn't fine out about it. A war between us would be bad for business."

Steven and Ryder confidently smiled at hearing some sane words about the situation.

Oliver Apartment  
Gotham Tower Apartments  
Saturday, June 24, ?

Mason wasn't the only one planning to attend the police benefit banquet as Beck adjusted his tie while he walked out of the master bathroom and into the master bedroom to pick up his date to the event. He stopped and his heart fluttered for a moment when he saw what he thought was a vision.

Sam was wearing a pink sheath one-shoulder (left shoulder) floor-length ballroom dress. She looked herself in the mirror, not noticing that Beck had entered the room. A smirk played on her face as she commented, "Mamma feels hot…"

He walked up behind her to rest his chin on her bare right shoulder and placed his hands on her stomach. "You certainly look hot."

She smugly answered while meeting his eyes in the mirror, "I know…"

The smile that could charm any lady formed on his face then kissed on her pulse point. He trailed several more kisses along her neck causing the blonde to close her eyes and lulled her head to the left to give his lips better access to her neck. As he distracted her with delicate kisses, he palmed over the wide shoulder strap and curled his fingers around the edge towards her neck while his other fingers grabbed the zipper. He slowly pulled the zipper down while pulling the strap off of her shoulder. The evening gown dropped to reveal her nakedness in front of the mirror or close to it. She wore a matching color to her dress low cut strapless bra and thong with a leg garter around her inner left thigh holding a small black holster with a .38 Colt Detective Special stuffed in it.

She huffed out an annoyed breath from him just stripping and potentially wrinkling her dress for letting it just drop. "Beck… we don't have time for any fun. I still need to do my makeup and hair."

Her protests were cut off when he cupped and palmed over her exquisite satin covered breasts and attentively kneaded them while he kissed the left crook of her neck causing her to rested the back of her head on his let shoulder and sigh out.

He huskily whispered against her neck, "Mamma is hot and you're probably right, we—"

"I'm always right."

He laughed then kissed her pulse point again before finishing, "Yes you are, so we might not have time for any fun right now, but you do."

"I do?"

He answered by releasing her right orb and sliding his hand over her smooth abdomen and gently rub a few circled over her lightly pale skin.

Sam closed her eyes and wrapped her arm over his shoulder and around to lace his locks between her fingers. She relaxed to his gentle touch then her eyes shot open with a sharp breath with his hand slipped under the waistband her panties and touched her intimate area.

The blonde only allowed him to touch her for a few seconds before she turned in place, removing his hand from her, and wrap her arms around behind his neck to bring her lips crashing onto his lips before parting her pink lips and forcing her tongue into his mouth. She pulled her mouth away seconds later, leaving a bit of spittle between their lips before pushing him back towards the bed, which he immediately fell back on when the back of his knees hit the edge of the foot of the bed.

She hopped on the bed to straddle his waist and lustfully hissed out as she looked down at him and reached behind her back to unhook her bra, "Jank it, we can be fashionably late."

West Manor  
Bristol Township, NJ

Detective David Vega hated these things—not the event itself of course with the money raised for the families of fallen officers from all the millionaires of the city—but the party itself in having to hobnob with rich and powerful of Gotham City. One slip of the tongue and one of these petty and vindictive people could ruin one's life. If things couldn't get any worst, he noticed that his boss, Commissioner Dickers readily socializing with Mason Thornesmith at one of the roulette tables set up for the permissible charity gambling by the state, ignoring the open secret that Thornesmith ran organized crime in Gotham… and he couldn't even indulge in a drink to calm his nerves as he thought it would be inappropriate for him to drink.

He shook his head in mild disgust of his boss being as blind as J. Edgar Hoover in not believing that there wasn't any such thing as organized crime. He wasn't sure what was worst: his boss pretending it didn't exist or he knew about it and was on the take.

As Detective Vega continued his upsetting musings, the crowd at one end of the leisure hall parted as another benefactor and the owner of the home entered fashionably late.

Jade West, millionaire industrialist, socialite and owner of West Enterprises, nearly glided through the gathered guests in an eye catching royal blue V-neck sleeveless floor-length evening gown that sheathed around her figure. Several eyes followed her as she walked by to see a nice view of the back that wasn't covered by her flowing nearly raven colored hair and where the dress reached only to the middle of her back and how the rest fell to hug her peach rear.

They ignored the fact that her CEO for West Enterprises, André Harris, was on her arm and escorting her for the evening.

The millionaire glanced around the filled leisure room looking for hopefully familiar faces other than the ones she had to associate with on a business level each day. She wasn't looking forward in dealing with them since she saw most of them as perversions of the American dream of making something of one's self through hard work as they threw money around government officials to use the power of government to crush their competition; they were the epitome of the idea of 'crony capitalism' and the only redeeming quality of this evening other than hopefully seeing some friendly faces was that the gambling tables for the charity would fleece them dry.

Jade's eyes finally spotted a familiar face of one easily walking through the crowd with the familiar blonde on his arm, however it wasn't one she was necessarily thrilled to see and her lips tightened at seeing Beck Oliver.

The long haired business man stopped in front of the pair. He quickly shook André's hand and the young men exchanged hearty greetings before Beck turned his eyes towards Jade. He gently laughed as he passed a hasty glance up and down the millionaire. "Jade, you look stunning this evening."

She answered with a guarded smile, "Thank you. You look pretty dashing yourself. I'm glad you two could make it."

He laughed off her compliment in a charming manner that would make many of a woman weak in the knees while Jade turned her attention to the pink wearing blonde and politely greeted, "Evening Sam. You look lovely this evening. If Beck's not careful, someone might snatch you up."

Sam had maintained a pleasant smile on her face to hide her uneasiness at watching her man casually remarked about how good his ex-girlfriend looked this evening. However, the fact that as long as she had been with Beck, Jade was always cordial, never had made a move to interfere in their relationship and she had less than an hour ago made him scream her name over and over again in the throws of pleasure, so she wasn't particularly threatened by the millionaire. "Thanks, but if they try they may not be walking home. Beck's right; you look stunning this evening. You wear blue very well."

"Thank you."

A slightly high pitched and eager voice called out from behind Beck, "Beck, Jade!"

The quartet turned to see Gotham's newest district attorney, Robbie Shapiro along with their mutual friend and date, Cat Valentine.

Cat was particularly eye catching as she was wearing a white, sleeveless dress with two white straps that started from the sides of her heart shaped neckline that cupped her breast, over her collarbone to around under the back of her neck in a crisscrossed fashion. Under the bust of the dress was a decorative gold band and from that point, the dress was a silky white material with the hem ending around two to three inches above her knees.

The redhead eagerly greeted the quartet with a high pitched voice, "Hi." She immediately gave Jade a hug, received an uncomfortable smile from the dark haired young woman then let her go to pull Sam into a hug. The blonde wore just as much of an uncomfortable smile, but just like Jade she was still happy to see the redhead.

Cat softly giggled in commenting on her female friends, "I love those dresses. You two look gorgeous."

Sam grudgingly remarked, but genuinely appreciated the comment, "Thanks Cat."

Jade followed up, "You look cute and adorable Cat."

André responded with a cheerful laugh, "Yeah Little Red, don't you look beautiful?"

She let out another giggle. "Thanks Jade, André." She surprised with the group by taking Sam by the hand and eagerly shouted, "Come on Sam; let me show you all the flowers I grew for the charity."

The blonde rolled her eyes in mild annoyance at her ex-college roommate's exuberant nature, but went along with her as an upset Cat would not be a good thing for the evening.

Jade held back a smile and slightly shook her head as she thought better Sam than her, but that was more due to the fact that Cat had already gave her the grand tour of all the flowers the redhead had decorated her home for the benefit.

André and Robbie started idly chatting, catching up on the happenings of their previous week and for Robbie, adjusting to being the new—and youngest District Attorney for Gotham, however he kept an ear turn to overhear Jade and Beck's conversation.

After Jade's loyal butler, Erin Sikowitz, quietly made his way next to the mistress of the house and handed her a glass of champagne, the dark haired millionaire quietly commented to get directly to her point after catching sight of Mason further into the leisure room, "You don't have to work for Thornesmith."

Beck glanced along the gathering, noticing his boss laughing it up with the police commissioner at a roulette table and idly chuckled, "And what would I do? Work for West Enterprises? Like you gave Cat a job at West Botanical and Records?"

"You could. You could do anything you wanted with your… skill set and wouldn't have to work for a guy like Thornesmith."

He smirked in an old way he would use when they were in high school. "Jade, I'm a legitimate business man and so is Mason. You can't let some bad press color your judgment."

She took a quick sip from her drink then replied, "What about your dream of being an actor? I just have to make a phone cal—"

His smile tightened and he forced a politeness to his voice, "Jade, I appreciate the sentimental, especially since we didn't have the best of breakups, but I don't need our charity to get any acting work if I wanted."

"It's not charity. I wouldn't tell any of my people in West Entertainment to hirer you, but I could find you some roles you would like to audition for."

He frowned and decided to take refuge in taking a sip from his drink.

The police detective had roamed around the room with the excuse of keeping his eyes out for any kind of cheating, but he eventually made his way to the former couple as Beck pulled his drink away from his lips.

Jade turned a smile to the detective and happily greeted him, "Detective Vega, it's a pleasure to see you."

He genuinely smiled to the lovely light skinned young woman and answered with a surprisingly upbeat tone in comparison to most of the evening, "You too ma'am. Thank you again for hosting this benefit. I know all the fellows on the force know they can count on you to make sure that the money goes where it's suppose to go instead—"

"Of one of the robber baron's back pockets?"

The cop reluctantly nodded, keeping a watchful eye at anyone that would overhear their conversation.

"It's why I had it here instead of someplace in the city. They're not just going to be able to walkout the door with their pockets a little heavier unless they legitimately won and it's the least I can do." Her voice dropped as her next words were filled with emotion, "It doesn't take a way the pain of losing a father or a mother, but it's something to help." She quickly looked around for a passing waiter for a drink to distract herself from some pending emotions.

Detective Vega sympathetically looked at the young woman as Beck glanced around the police officer and curiously asked with the hopes of turning the discussion to a happier note, "Is Tori with you? I heard she was back in town, for a movie shoot in New York?"

He was curious to see the brunette and quite grateful at the moment that Cat was keeping Sam occupied in showing her flowers or she could have easily have become jealous with him just stalking to the Vega girl.

Detective Vega's smile became a little forced as he answered, "Yes, she is, but she's running late. I'm not sure what's keeping her…"

Mason Thornsmith's Penthouse

The extravagant apartment was nearly pitched black other than the ambient light from the rest of the city that was allowed to shine inside as the housekeeper hadn't pulled the shades down before leaving. It was quiet, peaceful and in Mason's mind when he left to go to the benefit banquet, quite secure.

However, he was proven quite wrong with the ambient light was partially blocked when a dark cowl figure with two diminutive 'ears' on either side of the crown of her head poked her head past the left side of the window (from the perspective of inside the apartment) to see inside. Seeing through a pair of formfitting green tinted goggles over her eyes, she could see the apartment was vacant and it brought a confident smile to her face.

She touched the sharp metal claws on each of her fingertips and thumb to the glass of her left hand while her other hand held her securely to the side of the building and started making a circular motion by twisting her wrist. She did this several times as the diamond tipped claws still had to cut through the fourth of an inch glass.

After several seconds of slicing into the glass, a slightly wop-sided circle was cut through. No alarmed sounded when the piece of glass fell through and dropped on the carpeted floor. Why would there be an alarm to a window thirty stories up?

She reached inside the hole and flicked the latch to the lock of the window then pulled her arms slightly out to push up from the cut circle, her glove preventing slicing her palm on the cut glass. After pushing up just centimeters, the window was far enough up to get her hand underneath the bottom and pushed the rest of the window up.

She carefully stepped over the windowsill and holding her satchel to her left hip. She glanced around again to make sure she was alone, a little bit of paranoia when inside the Mob boss of Gotham City's apartment wouldn't hurt. She quietly made her way through the apartment towards Mason's office with the grace of a cat.

She stopped at the entrance of his office and glanced around. It was an impressive sight as apparently he liked to work from home on occasions with all the necessities to conduct business from home. It was decorated with various admirations to himself along with him in photos with various celebrities and well known government officials.

She quickly disregard that and started searching through the place for the safe she knew he had to have in the apartment for stuff she knew he was too paranoid to leave within easy reach of his crew. After meticulously searching through the office without anything looking like it had been disturbed, she found a false cabinet door about waist high tall, offset from behind his desk.

The brunette knelt down and carefully pulled opened it open to reveal a medium. She smiled in triumph, but quickly went about her business of pulling the bag strap over her head and sat the satchel down on the floor then opened it up to pull out a stethoscope. She plugged one end into a small plug in the right 'cat ear' of cowl then placed the end the stethoscope to the side of the safe door.

She slowly started turning the dial, carefully listening for the tumblers to fall into place. After a little patience of about five minutes or so, the last tumbler fell into place and she tried the handle.

She smiled to herself as it clicked open and she opened up the door to reveal several tied stacks of hundred dollar bills, a few pieces of jewelry, a gold bullion, but what caught her eye most of all were the several stacks of envelopes.

The lights suddenly went up around her, temporarily blinding the night-vision goggles and her eyes, but they quickly readjusted to the light in a similar fashion as sunglasses.

Someone called out from behind her, "Freeze!", but she could tell in his voice that he was quite nervous, probably distracted from the fact of seeing her, a fine and fit young woman in a practically skintight black bodysuit. He called out again, "Put… put your hands up!"

The young woman slowly stood up and placed her hands on her black covered thighs and shifted her weight slightly to her left, knowing that the man's attention would be drawn to her rear. She looked over her shoulder, giving gave him a teasing smile. "You want me to put my hands up?"

He nervously replied as he was captivated by her flowing brunette tied in a pony tail behind her from the slit cut in the back of the cowl, her dark eyes and teasing smile.

She reached up to her right hip and pulled the bullwhip from the clip-on harness to snap out at the bodyguard. The end of the whip wrapped around his next to his wide eyed surprise and he immediately grabbed at it to try to loosen it. She grabbed the end of the handle with her hand and yanked hard, pulling the guard off of his feet and face first into the floor.

She leapt the distance between her and the flat face goon to climb on his back. She brought her left arm around his throat and pulled him into a sleeper hold.

He uselessly clawed at her Kevlar woven covered arm as the blood to his brain was cut off. He struggled for a few scant seconds before his eyes closed and he passed out. When he went limp on the floor, she released him, having no intention of killing him.

She took several calming breaths from the adrenal rush then walked back to the safe. She grabbed the stacks of files and shoved them into her satchel and tightly secured the twin straps then pulled the shoulder strap over her head. She slammed the safe shut then walked back over to the low level gangster to untie her whip around his neck to retrieve it.

She started her way out of the office until she noticed the private elevator to the far left of the office. She wickedly smiled at escaping that way as to avoid climbing down the thirty stories.

West Manor

Robbie took a sip from his drink then awkwardly commented to Beck between turns at the roulette table, "Jade's right."

After placing a bet, Beck turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "Jade's right?"

"Mason's nothing but trouble. I will get him one day for being Gotham's crime boss, but I don't want him to try to drag you down with him. He could just lie and say you were involved with all his illegal activities and make up any kind of proof. I wouldn't have any credibility in not attempting to prosecute you."

Beck reassuringly smiled to his friend and answered, "Robbie, I really appreciate your concern about me. I really do, but I'll be fine. If and that's a big if Mason was involved with any kind of illegal activity like say operating unlicensed gambling houses or selling untaxed alcohol, there's no way he could link me to any of that. I'm just a manager and numbers cruncher and all I've ever seen is legitimate expenses and profits in the bookkeeping ledgers. If there was something there, the IRS would have gotten by now. They even got Capone, so if Mason was doing the same thing, he'd be in the joint."

Robbie blew out a breath and a disappointed expression appeared on his face. He hoped his friend was right about not being involved with what was suspected of Mason, unlicensed gambling houses and untaxed liquor being the two big things that brought in the cash, and that the crime boss couldn't frame his friend for anything.

The matter was quickly dropped when Sam slipped up beside Beck's left side while Cat slipped up on Robbie's left. The redhead brought her lips to Robbie's ear and whispered something, causing the D.A. to instantly blush. Cat tightly looped her arm around his arm and started pulling him along without any complaint with the only thing him saying was to ask Beck to watch his bet.

Beck raised a brow and smirked at seeing the bashfulness on his friends face as Cat nearly dragged him away. He looked to Sam and before he could question her, she answered, "The kitty needs her man for a scratch."

The handsome young man let out a laugh then stole a cheek kiss from the blonde and turned back to the gambling table.

* * *

Being a friend of Jade West, best friend one might consider, had its advantage as Cat had free reign of the mansion, so she was able to take Robbie with her past one of the cordoned off areas to head to the second floor with the excuse she needed to go to the bathroom with the help not daring to question her.

Once they were on the second floor, they turned around the corner to make sure they were out-of-sight and earshot of any of the guests on the first floor, Cat turned to Robbie and cupped the back of his neck for a quick and deep kiss while she grabbed his wrist with her other hand and directed it under the silky hem to rest on the back of her bare thigh before directing it further up her leg.

Robbie's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at feeling the delicate skin of her ass cheek along with the silky material of the boyshorts tightly encasing part her of ass. His instincts naturally asserted themselves and started kneading the soft flesh, drawing an approving, but muffled mew from the redhead.

She let go of his wrist and snaked her hand round the back of her neck to join her other one as she deepened the kiss. She parted her mouth and let her tongue sweep across his lips then pushed inside.

He smiled against the kiss and tightened his hand on her ass cheek, pulling her closer and her feeling him starting to bulge underneath the crotch of his slacks against her lower abdomen and center.

She pulled her lips away from him and directed in an oddly naughty manner for her, "Come on. I know where we can get some privacy."

She stepped back to slip out of his grasp and latched onto his wrist. She turned and started dragging him along.

The glasses wearing D.A. asked in a dumbfounded manner as he kept step with her, "This wasn't private enough?"

She softly giggled while wrinkling her nose.

* * *

Sikowitz expertly maneuvered through the crowd to rejoin Jade while she caught up with one of the doctors that ran the West Medical Foundation. He politely interrupted the pair and leaned over to whisper into Jade's ear, "Your… 'guest' from Metropolis is here."

The nearly raven haired colored young woman suppressed a groan at the unwelcome news, but she easily kept on her smile from her younger years of being interested in acting. She looked to the doctor and politely excused herself before letting Sikowitz escort her to the guest patiently waiting at the entrance to the mansion.

The young man stood out among the rest of the guests for a number of reasons. He was dressed in a nice navy business suit, white shirt and red tie, but not in a tuxedo as the occasional would require and with the way he stood, he looked timid and apprehensive in apparently being quite uncomfortable in the situation. However, a more positive quality he possessed that made him stand out was that he was quite physically well built and handsome with his dark short hair and wearing a pair of glasses.

If she would describe him in one phrase by her initial assessment, she would call him 'mild mannered'.

She finished approaching him and politely greeted, "Hello, I'm Jade West and you must be…"

He nodded his head and nervously adjusted his glasses on his face, avoiding eye contact with her, before politely introducing himself, "I'm ah… ah, Freddie Benson. I'm from the Daily Planet."

She cocked an eyebrow and somewhat teasingly asked, "So you're the reporter they sent to do a puff piece on me?"

He uneasily chuckled, "No ma'am—yes ma'am. I'm here to do that among other things too."

She turned her full attention to him, delicately still holding her glass between her fingers, and her smile grew slightly bigger before asking, "Well which is it? Yes or no."

He took a hesitant breath then answered, "Yes I was sent to do a piece on you, but no, I have no intention of making it a puff piece."

She raised an eyebrow and teased, "Brave words to the woman that owns your paper."

He cleared his throat and glanced away while softly answering, "More like honest words…"

"Good… or I would have you fired in an instant."

She was quite serious in her statement, but there was an odd lightheartedness to it that set him a little bit at ease. She idly continued as she watched the rest of event's guests, "What was the other thing you're here to report on, besides me?"

"Other things?"

She glanced back to him and questioned, "You said I was one among other things; what are those 'things'?"

"Well, the chief has a side interest in wondering if Gotham now has its own hero."

She sweetly laughed before taking another sip of her drink, "Like your Metropolis has 'The Superman, the Man of Tomorrow'? I wasn't aware we had any costumed vigilantes flying around the city doing the impossible."

She noticed the he slightly tensed at mentioning of the word 'Superman', but he continued without missing a beat, "Maybe not as dramatically as Superman, but… there is 'The Bat' who's put the fear of God or perhaps the Devil into the hearts of criminals. They're starting to be afraid to walk the streets and this clown person. Some are calling him 'The Joker' and his apparent partner, a blonde they're calling some nightmarish harlequin—the next Bonnie and Clyde—but they're robbing from the Mob. The chief thinks all that is news worthy and that the Gotham Gazette shouldn't be the only one publishing it."

Her voice dropped to the same kind of odd nervousness as his voice at the mentioning of 'The Bat', but she understood exactly why hers dropped, "I'm not paying you—or your boss to be tracking down urban legends."

"No, you're paying me to report on the truth or you would have let Nevel buy out the paper to become part of NevelCorp and turn it into his propaganda machine. There's something out there scaring the criminals off the streets and this arson madman keeping the Mob from running their speakeasies. That's worth investigating."

She slightly frowned at hearing that the reporter that was assigned to be her tagalong for the next few days may actually had integrity as a reporter. However, this might have actually been to her advantage if she handled the situation carefully. "Okay, I'm actually interested in reading about this 'Joker' fellow—if you can actually get some credible news on him. I don't want you or your boss to put stuff in the paper that is better left to the Yellow Press."

"Yes ma'am."

"And you should be careful though. Bonnie and Clyde started killing people before the police killed them. I don't want you to be caught in the crossfire and I'm stuck with the bill of a funeral."

The sound of her voice sounded to him as it was a morbid joke, but he could hear an underlining tenor of concern. He nodded and cracked a hint of a reassuring smile. "I will certainly do that."

A corner of her mouth slightly lifted, a little surprised that he wasn't put off by her sense of humor. "Well then, as long as you're careful. Now I have to rejoining the benefit." She turned and headed back to the party, but called over her blue strapped shoulder as she paused in her step, "You can join me and observe how I deal with Gotham's elite for your piece."

A soft, boyish grin appeared on his face and he quickly fell in step behind the lovely millionaire.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope this enticed you a little more to stay tuned for this story. I can't promise when it'll be update other than hopefully be a mid-February update on a regular basis. I want to finish some old stories up that are way past overdue. Thanks for reading.

For the ladies dresses if you're curious, Jade's is what Liz wore to the 2011 Creative Emmys, Sam's is what Jennette wore at the same event and Cat is from Ariana's 4th Annual Power of Youth Event.


	3. What a Way to End a Party

Hello readers. The muse was good for this story, not so much for my others (especially since I had time to write over the holiday). She's a fickle mistress. Anyway, here's another chapter and thank you for the support.

Jeremy Shane: Thanks, here is another.

Fanfic-Reader-88: I hope it became clear who was 'The Bat' in the last chapter. There may be something more to Freddie than just a reporter from The Daily Planet.

DeppThroat: I hope it was a pleasant surprise with the visitor. Who's 'Batman'? :D Battles are more personal when the people on the other side are friends. He makes an interesting choice as a butler.

Boris Yeltsin: I'm going to try. Time is always the biggest factor, especially with the number of stories I have on my plate.

Challenge King: Thank you. I hope with the last chapter people started figuring out who was who.

Twilight Warrior 627: Thank you for the praise. It's intended to be as much as possible a down to Earth story with the only 'marvelous' thing that separates it from our world is 'The Superman', so the villains are something comprehensible, the Mob, not 'supervillains'. It may be a crossover with those two main characters, but my intention is for this to have 'The Bat' as the star and 'The Man of Tomorrow' being a supportive role. However, there will be a few sprinkles of what life is like in Metropolis.

On another note, illusorygentleman has started a new story, it's a horror/murder mystery story entitled, 'Schneider's Island'. It is rated M for violence, so fair warning.

Rating: T Violence

* * *

Chapter 2

Freddie quietly watched the millionaire gracefully make her way to speak with nearly each and every guest. She'd politely smile and exchange a few words, particularly thanking them for attending and willing to gamble some money away for a good cause. They in turn commenting on how lovely she looked this evening (a sentiment that he completely agreed) then she'd move on to another person or couple. The reporter didn't think the thanks was needed to the elite of Gotham since from the understanding of anyone that paid even a scant amount of attention to the city, people were trying to find any way to indulge in what was considered the vices by the 'Drys' without having to travel to Atlantic City. Also, the free flowing alcohol was a particularly good incentive to show up and quickly lose one inhibition on throwing their money away.

As Freddie trailed behind her, Jade eventually made her way to Commissioner Dickers and Mason, still at one of the roulette tables. Commissioner Dickers turned from his position at the end of the table and charmingly spoke to the hostess, "Miss West, you look absolutely lovely this evening."

"Thank you Commissioner."

Mason turned away after making his bet and directed an overdramatic grin to her. "Bobby is absolutely right Miss West. You look stunning this evening."

She bowed her head somewhat modestly, keeping up appearances and knowing there was a hint in their voices that they were trying to flirt with her without it looking as if they were flirting. She held little doubt they were doing such a thing as she noticed them stealing glances at her cleavage and chest.

The Commissioner continued, "Thank you again Miss West for holding this benefit. I know the officers' families deeply appreciate the gesture."

She returned with a lovely smile, "You're quite welcome."

Commissioner Dickers finally noticed Freddie's presence and passed a glance to the reporter, giving him an odd look at seeing his choice of dress wear for the event, but commented with a strained voice of politeness, "So you decided to bring along a date instead of Mister Harris escorting you?"

She passed a quick glance towards Freddie then politely answered, "No, this is Freddie Benson. He's from the Daily Planet and here to do a puff piece on me." She let out an easygoing laugh, "I guess the editor wants to ingratiate himself with me after purchasing the paper by having a good piece written about me. I'm not entirely thrilled with the idea, but I don't want to unduly influence the paper by telling him what stories to print."

Dickers' smiled somewhat faded at hearing the word 'press', especially someone from out of town that didn't understand the press' place in Gotham.

Mason however responded with a hearty laugh, "You could always fire him. That would teach you next editor not to try to kiss your arse, if you pardon my language ma'am. I'm of the mindset that my arse is for sitting, not kissing." He looked to Freddie and continued, "So you're the one that got caught with the, how do they say, 'the short straw'?"

"I actually asked for the assignment as to give me the chance to cover 'The Bat' and this… clown fellow burning down people's businesses. I'm sorry, but the word is that one of your establishments was burned down by the white face clown… that it was really a gambling and speakeasy establishment. Would you like to squash those rumors with an official comment?"

Mason's smile turned into a borderline gob smacked expression, clearly caught off guard by the turn in subject and question.

Dickers quickly spoke up wit a slightly harsh tone, "For the record, there is no 'Bat'. It's just some tabloid nonsense that the press is trying to stir up since they can't splash crime headlines as they can in Chicago or New York because crime in Gotham is actually down since the mayor's and city council's policies on alcohol were enacted last year and fully supporting my aggressive policing policies. No serious journalist is wasting his or her time on the matter and for the sake of your professional reputation, you shouldn't either. And as for this 'clown', my officers have not seen one shred of sustainable proof that such an individual exists. The fire marshal is still investigating whether there was any arson involved or it was some kind of accident, possibly an electrical wiring failure."

Freddie politely smiled and nodded his head. "Thank you for the advice sir. I deeply appreciate it being an outsider to Gotham."

Dickers smiled, figuring that he had effectively cowed the young man with the fatherly warning. He thought perhaps he could use him in some capacity in Metropolis.

Mason gathered his wits after his initial hesitation and spoke, "Actually for the record, I owned only a minor percentage of the establishment. The majority owner is a business partner of mine, Beck Oliver. If you have any further questions, he would be the one to speak with. My part in the business was to finance capital as a legitimate business investment."

Before Freddie could question him further, the roulette dealer shouted, "Red Twelve!"

Mason and the commissioner turned back to the table and the business man laughed in celebration at winning his wager. He looked back to the hostess and politely remarked, "If you'll excuse me, it looks like I'm on a winning streak."

Jade politely smiled. "Of course Mister Thornesmith. It was nice to speak with you. The same with you commissioner. Thank you for indulging Mister Benson."

Dickers laughed, "It was our pleasure. I always have the time to speak with such an upstanding member of the community."

Jade passed along another smile then turned and led Freddie away from the table where they started walking between the gambling tables and crowd without any particular destination in mind. Jade quietly asked with a slight turn of her head to him, "That was bold to ask him such a thing."

"I'm a member of the press; I'm suppose to ask the hard questions."

"Questions like that could get you killed."

He answered with a surprising amount of self-confidence that he hadn't shown over the last hour, "All the more reason to ask them."

She cocked her left eyebrow up, the one that when she was younger she had pierced during what was called her 'gothic phase' while in high school and early college, actually impressed with the young man's strong words. She softly warned for his benefit, "He is the crime boss of Gotham. He's to be given a certain level of respect for that… but not fear."

"How does he manage that? How does he make his money? What keeps him in power? As one of the wealthiest people in Gotham—the entire Eastern Seaboard—I would think you would know."

"Is this off the record?"

He nodded his head and displayed a firm expression, "Absolutely ma'am."

"I'll have to trust that you really do have professional ethics…"

She kept walking through the crowd while Freddie eagerly followed until they were at the perimeter of the room and Jade continued her pacing. Out of suspected earshot or the ability to be overheard from the attendees, she continued, "Mason and his fellow bosses have the mayor and the city council in their back pocket and it is really _their_ policy on alcohol that Dickers just mentioned. They have the council purposely keep the alcohol taxes so high in the city that people will look elsewhere to get their booze at reasonable and sometimes dirt cheap prices."

"Like New York City and their tobacco taxes is creating a black market for cigarettes?"

"Exactly."

He rhetorically asked, "So no one is ever going to prosecute him or his fellow gangsters for trying to cheat the city because the mayor and council members get kickbacks from the profits of untaxed liquor? Is it the same reasons they ignore the reported illegal gambling?"

"Yes and the fact that people—especially the elites—like their booze cheap and their gambling without having to travel to Atlantic City, but Robbie, our newly elected D.A., will prosecute them if he can get the evidence for it and make it public. They couldn't cover that up. The scandal would be too much and the state would get involved about the illegal gambling. He was elected on the promise to root out the corruption that everyone knows about, but doesn't want to do anything about. The problem is that they may want the cheap booze and the gambling, but crime is becoming rampant since almost everyone in the government is on the payroll they have no real ability to stop them from doing anything else they want: protection, extortion and prostitution. It's only 'down' because they're not reporting it."

"You trust him to do that? As you said, he's an elected official and I and my partner have had to deal with a number of them in Metropolis. They can disappoint you."

She answered with a curt tone, irrationally feeling insulted by the alluded to insult, "I've known Robbie since my freshmen year of high school. He's my friend and one of my best friend's boyfriend. He's a good man and they won't buy him off."

He nodded, trying to placate her for the unintended insult to her friend and quickly tried to shift the subject away from the district attorney. "But how do you know all this?"

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, quickly bringing the reporter to a stop. She looked him in the eyes past his glasses and gave him a beautiful smile that struck a nerve, the same nerve that his partner would strike when she would smile, but it was never directed at him, but to the 'Man of Steel'. She teased, "I'm beautiful and filthy rich. Use those reporting skills and figure it out."

He spoke before he could catch himself, "You certainly are ma'am, but you don't wear it like the others I've seen so far tonight or most of the ones in Metropolis. I don't see how they would necessarily let you in on their inner circle to find out the game they all seem to be playing."

Jade's cheeks formed the barest of hints of flush on them from his complement as unlike all the others she had spoken with over the last hour except of course her friends, she heard and saw in his face the true sincerity of his words without any apparent alternative motivation such as Dickers or perhaps Mason had with her. She reached over and grabbed her second glass of champagne off of a passing tray then casually answered while directing her attention on the various gambling tables, "My business headquarters is in the heart of the city with a number of my subsidiaries. I've had multiple layered conversations with officials to know how things work over the years in Gotham. I wouldn't want surprised inspections from any number of departments that would conveniently say that any one of my business was in violation of some code or hampering of permit renewals or getting new ones for new construction."

"So you have to bribe them too just to keep them off your back?"

She snapped her head to look at him and gave him a harsh glare, but his look lacked any judging of her and quickly softened her stance. "No, I understand the message that my best interests would actually be them getting reelected and that I should do my part to help."

"Campaign contributions? Legalized extortion."

"In a word, yes." She quickly took another sip from her drink, trying to calm her anger of having to give any one of them a dime of her money.

The pair fell into silence as Jade enjoyed her drink while Freddie looked over to guests, just observing them and trying to memorize faces for possible future reference.

Jade eventually asked after finishing half her drink, "Why did you think I wouldn't be part of their 'inner circle'?"

Freddie snapped his head back to look at her and asked, "Excuse me?"

She turned slightly to look at him and softly questioned, "You said you didn't believe I would be welcome into their circle. Why?"

He cleared his throat and directed his gaze away from her penetrating eyes and answered, "Because after watching you for the last hour, I haven't picked up any of those arrogant and self-important tendencies as the others attending."

"Maybe I'm just a good actress?"

"I have no doubt of that ma'am with your background in acting while in high school, but I kind of pride myself in observing human behavior and when you observe it long enough, the true person eventually slips through to be scene."

She directed a grin at him and teased, "So you've done your research on me?"

"Any good reporter does their background research on a subject before they're interviewed."

"So this is an interview now?"

"Not necessarily this, but I was hoping at some point that you'd sit down to a formal one."

"We'll have to see. While you follow me around for the next few days, you'll see that I'm a very busy woman and if you truly have faith in your skills of observing people then you'll learn about me far more than a sit down interview."

He politely smiled that bordered on a charming one. "I look forward to it Miss West."

She returned the smile then hid it behind another sip of her champagne, but the look in her lovely blue eyes expressed a mild playfulness that she was looking forward to see if he could meet her challenge.

* * *

A few gentlemen's heads turned at the late arrival, including some of the older ones that had no real business looking at the newcomer in the manner the younger ones were directing at the young woman. After Jade had lowered her glass, she instantly smiled when she saw the young woman and quickly approached her, leaving Freddie to unexpectedly catch up with her, and call out, "Tori?"

The quite lovely brunette looked around the throng of guests for several seconds trying to figure out the direction of the familiar voice calling out to her then brightly smiled at seeing her hold high school nemesis when she laid her eyes on her. She happily laughed as she quickly approached, "Jade?"

The young ladies shared a quick hug when Jade was in range then pulled back and easily commented, "I'm so glad you could make it. You look fantastic Tori."

For the second time of the night, Freddie's breath was nearly taken away at seeing another lovely young woman (the first of course being Jade) as to his eyes, the newcomer was absolutely beautiful in her orange silky satin halter sheath floor-length dress with her hair tied up in the back with some hair parted over the right side of her forehead to frame her high cheek.

"Thank you Jade." She bowed her head to get a good look at Jade then happily comment, "You do too. I'm sorry I'm late. I had to run a last minute errand then I had to run back to my dad's place to change."

She bent her head forward and whispered, "I'm just happy you're here to rescue me. Cat ran off with Robbie somewhere and André's busy making his own rounds with the guests."

Tori turned her head slightly and smiled to the handsome reporter that had walked up next to Jade and teased, "Why would you need rescuing from such handsome date?"

Freddie bashfully bowed his head and glanced away at the brunette while at the same time Jade knotted her brow. "Date?" She looked over to where Tori was directing her gaze and it dawned on what her lighter brunette friend meant. She softly laughed and slightly shook her head, "Oh no, Mister Benson is not my date. He's a reporter from the Daily Planet in Metropolis sent to do a piece on me. He's going to be my shadow for the next few days."

Tori softly laughed while she slipped up beside the reporter and looped her arm around his arm, "That's a shame Jade. I think he'd make a fine date. Mind if I snatch him?"

Freddie attempted to hide the soft blush forming on his face which drew another soft laugh from Tori.

Jade paused, feeling an odd and to her mind a childish jealous reaction at Tori showing any interest to the young reporter that was suppose to be her shadow for the next few days. She thought it was perhaps some buried resentment carrying over from high school about how she had always been afraid of losing a guy to the sweet, girl-next-door Tori regardless of the fact that she had only known Freddie for about an hour with no conscious desire for him. She suppressed the feelings and awkwardly laughed off, "You'd have to ask Mister Benson, but don't you think you should introduce yourself first?"

Tori laughed, eager to take up the suggestion from her friend and sweetly asked the reporter as she looked to meet his eyes and rested her other hand on his bicep, "I'm sorry, I'm Tori Vega. I'm an old friend of Jade's from high school."

"Tori Vega? I thought your resemblance to the actress was just a coincident. I've seen a number of your films. You were fantastic in the _Wizard of Oz_."

"Thank you, I just wish I would have gotten Jade to play with me in it."

The millionaire rolled her eyes and took a quick sip from her drink before remarking, "I was not going to wear green makeup or look that hideous. Besides, I wouldn't have the time. I do have a business to run."

Tori confidently smirked as she retorted, "André runs the business for the most part, so that's no real excuse. Mark my words Jade: I _will_ get you for the prequel."

Jade rolled her eyes before taking another sip of her drink.

Tori looked back to Freddie and continued, "The Daily Planet you said? I love that paper. It's not news if it isn't in the Planet. Benson? Your name sounds familiar. I'm trying to place what stories I've read your byline."

He nervously chuckled, "You're probably thinking of my partner, Carly Shay that I usually share with her. She's the one that usually gets the first line—not that I'm complaining or anything. She deserves all the credit she gets."

The young ladies could hear something more than just professional praise in the young man's voice and they each drew their own conclusions. Tori tried to hide her mild disappointment that he might not be available. Nevertheless, she continued with an upbeat tone in trying to make conversation, "Hasn't she been the one reporting on that 'Superman' fellow you have flying around Metropolis almost to the exclusion of everything else after saving her from some helicopter accident? Can he actually fly?"

He nodded his head to the side and bashfully answered, "Yes on both accounts."

She slightly wrinkled her nose whispered off in a dreamy manner, "He could save me anytime."

Jade noticed the slight frown that had formed on Freddie's face. She felt a twinge of pity for the reporter in realizing that it bothered him that Tori had made an inadvertent comparison between him and 'The Man of Steel'. She could understand the hurt feeling about the comparison to other women—particularly Tori and not feeling as if she measured up in the eyes of their group from high school, but it had to be worst for him when she took the leap in believing that he liked his partner, but she was too infatuated with 'The Superman' to give him a look. _How do you measure up to a guy that is supposedly faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?_

The darker brunette spoke up, "There's more to being a man than just saving the 'damsel-in-distress'. What about the man behind the big red 'S'? Would he be there for the things that he couldn't fix with just brute force? There's being there for the little things as much as the big things that sometimes just can't be fixed or would he just take off thinking it was pointless because he couldn't bash the problem away. Would he be there for the things he's powerless to fix? After saving you, would he be there in the morning or would he just fly off to save someone else, leaving you behind?"

Tori looked on her friend with a mildly shocking expression then softly laughed, "And you're not a romantic?"

Jade slightly frowned then mumbled before taking another sip from her drink, "Whatever Vega."

Freddie randomly spoke up, "He would be there."

The girls turned their attention back to him and gave him curious expressions.

He awkwardly laughed then hesitantly answered, "I've… I've never spoken with him, but from what I gathered from Carly, he seems like a good guy behind the cape. In the end, he's just a man in a silly red sheet with probably the same hopes and dreams like the rest of us. Wouldn't he be looking for someone to be there for him?"

Tori quickly asked, "Wouldn't that be Carly?"

He quietly answered, "She sees the 'S', not the man."

Jade turned her head slightly to the side while she narrowed her eyes on him, hearing something in his voice, but it wasn't jealousy. She couldn't place her finger on exactly what she heard, possibly something akin to regret… regret that Carly had chosen someone else over him, but it just quite wasn't that. She didn't have the chance to dwell on it further as Tori remarked, "I could use something to drink and I'm betting that Sikowitz made sure the have the best hors d'oeuvre made."

The lighter brunette grabbed Jade's free hand and started pulling Freddie along by the arm to find one of the passing hors d'oeuvre trays.

* * *

Gary, Detective Vega's partner tried to make his way through the crowd as inconspicuous through the crowd, but he wasn't entirely successful while in his business attire and hurriedly weaving his way through the elite. He finally made it to the end of the gambling table where his boss was watching Mason continuing on his winning streak. He quietly walked up next to the commissioner and whispered to both men, "There's been a break-in at your apartment Mister Mason."

A hard expression formed on Mason's face in an instant and harshly whispered out, "What did they steal?"

"We're not sure. One of your private security guards was overpowered as he tried to stop the robbery, but when he came to, your safe was locked back up, so we don't know what was stolen out of it."

The commissioner and the business man looked to one another with a mixture of anger and concern. Mason quickly told the dealer he was cashing out and taking his winnings. After gathering them, he turned and walked around the table with Dickers and Gary right behind him, intent on returning home as quickly as possible to see what was stolen.

* * *

Several minutes after finding and consuming a number of hors d'oeuvres, Tori went off to find André to catch up with him and possibly finding Beck after the hostess informed her that their mutual friend was at the event, but the slightly older brunette made it a point to tell Freddie to keep his arm warm for her.

As the remaining pair stood off to the side, Jade commented with an odd, sour taste in her mouth, "It looks like Tori's taken a liken to you."

"I find that hard to believe. She's surrounded by plenty of other well-off fellows in her business. I'm just some lonely reporter."

"She knows any one of those 'well-off fellows' would try to take advantage of her at the first opportunity besides having their name attached to hers in the press. They wouldn't care about her, just her name…" She turned to look him straight in his soft blue eyes and whispered, "…like some people only see the 'S' and not the man."

He hurriedly raised his right pointer and middle finger to the side of his glasses to make sure they were straight on his face.

She knotted her brow quickly, unsure as to the reason to his odd reaction of trying to straighten his perfectly sitting glasses.

He stared back, a hint of fear in his eyes that she could make out, but her curiosity couldn't be satisfied with a question as the terrible RAT-TAT-TAT sound suddenly filled the leisure room as a well dressed man with a Halloween clown mask fired his Thompson submachine gun into the air as he was joined by several others holding .38s and Colt .45s and large wool bags at the end of the room.

"Everyone down on the ground and step away from the money!" he needlessly shouted after firing as the gathering nearly as one dropped to the floor and some attempted to hide under the gambling tables.

Detective Vega ducked behind one of the pedestals out of sight and pulled his service revolver from his side holster under his left breast pocket. He quickly tried to assess how many there were along with trying to spy Tori, but she was lost somewhere in the crowd.

The other clown masked thugs quickly walked to the tables and started filling the bags with money, no one dare willing to oppose them.

One of the clown wearing thugs walked over to Jade, possibly recognizing her as the hostess of the event, and grabbed her by the upper right arm and pointed the end of his .38 just under her chin. He shouted, "Where's Mason Thornesmith?!"

Freddie snapped in a harsh tone, so harsh it surprised Jade and the thug, "Let her go."

They turned to look at the Metropolis reporter and for an infinitesimal moment Jade swore that his pupils turned red. Apparently the thug saw it as well and was stunned into silence. Jade gathered her wits quicker and lifted her left foot and stomped as hard as she could manage with her high-heeled shoe into the man's loafer covered foot.

He roared in pain, loosening his grip on her arm long enough for Freddie to push her to the side away from the clown thug and she landed hard on her left shoulder. She looked up just in time to see the well dressed clown turned his gun on Freddie and fired at point blank range.

"Freddie!"

He covered the left side of his abdomen with a closed fist and fell backwards to land on his behind and his back against one of the pedestals holding up one of the marble busts.

Jade gritted her teeth in outrage and put on a murderous expression a hair of a second before she grabbed on both sides of her dress and yanked up to give her legs some more freedom of movement then kicked out hard on the back of the thug's left knee.

He roared in pain as dropped to that knee and in nearly a flash Jade had rolled up on her knees and forearmed him in the face as hard as she could swing. He jerked backwards and collapsed on his back, overextending his hurt knee as his leg failed to slip out from under him. She leapt on top of him to mount his chest and punched him once in the face then twice than a third time after his nose was broken and he was out cold.

Freddie looked a little wide eyed at seeing the aggressive act on the part of the millionaire. She turned and scrambled off the clown towards the reporter. She frantically patted his abs, trying to find where the bullet went in him to stop the bleeding, but she couldn't find any blood.

He moved his closed fist away from his abdomen and awkwardly laughed, "I guessed he missed."

She looked at him dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the idea that the thug could miss him at such a range. She quickly shook it off and looped her arm under his left armpit to help him on his feet.

As she turned away from him to see if any of the clown's fellow crooks were coming to check on him, Freddie opened his hand to see the .38 slug had mushroomed out on his palm. He closed his hand and slipped the slug into his blazer's pocket without Jade none the wiser.

On the other side and further down the room, another one of the thugs that wasn't busy swiping as much cash and chips off the table had reached Beck and Sam, who had ducked under the end of one of the gambling tables. He apparently realized Beck's identity and had the intent on killing the young man as he was raising his .45.

Beck was far quicker as he slightly turned from his knelt position and shoved his hand into the slit of the dress and between Sam's legs.

The crook paused at witnessing at what he thought was such a crude act, but in that hesitation, the long haired young man pulled his hand from underneath Sam's dress and snapped around to train the .38 Colt Detective Special at the clown mask wearing thief.

The robber only had a split of a second to realize what had happened at the same time his eyes shot open as Beck didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and after the split second, the slug went between the man's eyes. Only a bit of blood splattered forward onto Beck as he shielded Sam while a splattering of blood went out the back of his head.

Beck was immediately on his feet then knelt down to pick up the fallen man's .45. He handed Sam back the .38 then dug through the man's pockets before pulling out two magazines and shoving them into his own pocket.

A look of outright fear played on Sam's face, but not for herself as she shouted in a short breath, "We got to find Cat."

"We have to find Jade first."

The blonde knotted her brow that joined her furious expression.

He ignored her obvious anger and sharply retorted, "I have to know she's safe, but she's the first one we should find because this place has to have a safe room and Jade would be the one to know it so I can get you, Cat and her to it."

She wanted to argue with his goal, but she couldn't find a flaw in it.

"Stay close and don't be afraid to use that," he sternly instructed with a motion to the revolver in her hand.

* * *

The one carrying the Tommy gun glanced around and was unable to see Mason. He looked to the others of his crew in sight that were looking for the mob boss, but saw that they were having just as little luck. He growled in frustration then shouted, "Damn! Mason's not here! We got to go before the law shows up! Grab as much cash as you can then follow me!" He turned and started his way out the door and the others obeyed his command of grabbing any stray money on the tables then followed him towards the door.

A trailing member of the crew that had made his way to the back of the leisure hall was rushing to catch up so he wouldn't be left behind, but as he was making his way halfway back to the entrance, Detective Vega turned from his hid position behind a pedestal and punched the crook in the stomach. He duped over from the wind knocked out of him then went face first into the ground when Vega pistol-whipped him just about the left temple.

Beck had caught up behind the police detective and knelt down to help Mister Vega try to restrain the crook as other robbers didn't notice that they were three short while they dashed out of the main entrance of the mansion. Detective Vega wasn't concerned at this point about the others as they were fleeing as it removed the dangers from the guests and he would nab everyone of them since he would make the one they caught talk.

The long haired young man grabbed the downed criminal by the collar and pulled off the clown mask. Beck's eyes widened in recognition then spat out when he instantly recognized him, "You're one of Steven's guys."

Detective Vega instantly recognized the name of one of his daughter's exes that he knew Beck was referring to all the main associates to Mason, but more importantly his mind quickly put the pieces together about the criminals' true purpose: an attempted hit on the Mob boss in a poorly disguised robbery. Now he had to get to Steven before the streets ran red with the blood of mobsters and the innocent.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed that chapter with a little background to the setting and action to lead us further into the plot. Until next time, take care.


	4. Room Service

Author's Note: Hello again. I finished another chapter today. I had hoped to work on my other stories, but you don't argue with your Muse because she'll get mad at you later. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

DeppThroat: Carly and Freddie's relationship in this story is more closely related to Chris Reeve's Superman and Superman Returns along with heavy influence of 'Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman' than say Smallville. I personally could never really stand Smallville Lois and thought the executives just chickened out in having Chloe be Lois all along. I thought the story would have worked far better if it had gone that way.

I thought Freddie's 'interview' was a good way to have exposition without it looking like a straight information dump.

It would make Tori Barbara if David Vega is Gordon and her heroic identity would be obvious, but it would obviously be some great overlap with the main heroine of the story as it is titled 'The Dark Dame'.

pbow: With all the background I've given the characters so far, is it really a question of who is 'The Bat', unless you think I'm going to do a head fake. 'The Bat' did not rob Mason and Tori was quite late 'running an errand'.

Harley is Caucasian in this story and I hope I had already hinted at who was Harley, but that was a good observation of the name.

Fanfic-Reader-88: It wouldn't look good if an outside observer would pull back the curtain and show the world what's really going on with crime in Gotham. It would upset a lot of boats. It won't be the last time they work together without the costumes.

Twilight Warrior 627: Thanks. I wouldn't go so far as to write comics, but I have seen a little what they've been doing with their new storyline. I think the Superman/Wonder Woman is an interesting couple for them to explore. I'm not sure when exactly they will meet in that manner, but it should be quite interesting.

Challenge King: Thanks. For the interactions, I based a little off Tori's subconscious reaction to first meeting Freddie in 'iParty with Victorious' and a more mature relationship between Jade and Tori as they are several years older than the series finale characters.

Boris Yeltsin: I hope to have a few more characters at least cameo during the course of the story. Depending on how well this story goes, any sequel could revolve around a JLA story.

Rating: T Language/Violence

* * *

Chapter 3

Mason Thornesmith's Penthouse

The officers in the room quickly stepped aside as their boss and the business man entered the office.

Dickers quickly asked Gary, wanting a walkthrough of the scene than just a brief summary as they rode over, "So what exactly happened?"

"According to Mister Mason's associate, about an hour and a half to two hours ago a young woman dressed in basically a skintight jumpsuit had cracked the safe. He caught her, but she turned and was able to subdue him then he woke up sometime later when some of the other security showed up. The safe was closed, so we couldn't determined what was stolen.

Dickers asked with a thick voice of disbelief, "Overpower him? How did this cat burglar manage that?"

"Apparently with a bullwhip around his neck then put him in a chokehold when he was down."

He rolled his eyes in disgust then asked, "How did she get up here?"

"We don't know yet, but there was a cut hole in one of the windows that would allow someone to stick their hand in to unlock the window."

Dickers spat out in disbelief, "You're telling me that she climbed thirty stories up?"

Gary embarrassingly remarked, "We're not sure, but… it's looking that way.

As the officers were conversing, Mason had knelt down to his safe and finished spinning the combination in then opened it. He took a cursory look at the contents and his face immediately fell along with the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Dickers asked over the business man's right shoulder, eyeing the jewelry and the gold bar, "What's missing?"

Mason clenched his jaw tightly as he turned slightly to look up at the commissioner. "I'm missing some personal files, very _personal_ files that are not for public consumption."

"That's it?" He motioned into the safe. "None of the valuables?"

"No, everything's here but the files. I need those files back."

"So she knew what she was looking for?"

Mason deeply frowned as his answer, letting Dickers know that the files being missing was a very bad thing not just for him, but the commissioner.

A uniformed officer whispered into Gary's ear, causing the detective to turn his head to look at the younger policeman to direct his full attention to the young man. He listened for probably half a minute then turned to the commissioner, "Sir?"

Dickers forced some patience into his voice as he answered, "Yes, Gary?"

Gary answered with some astonishment in his voice, "The Police Benefit was just robbed with one of the robbers killed in the process, but no other reported injuries. Two of them were apprehended at the scene, but it looks like the rest made off with a substantial amount of money."

The other officers looked to one another, clearly seeing the anger each was displaying that the skumbags were directly stealing from the families of their fallen brothers and sisters.

Gary passed a quick glance to Mason as he finished, "And sir, they were specifically looking for Mister Thornesmith, presumably to kidnap him or worst."

Mason felt the anger rise in his chest, first from being robbed of some very damning documents if they were made public and now hearing that someone was planning to kill him.

Dickers quickly asked, "What have you found out from the ones caught?"

"Vega's interrogating them now—"

Dickers sourly remarked, "Vega."

"Yes sir, but a Mister Beck Oliver was able to identify them as working for Steven Carson. Vega already put out an APB for Carson."

Mason hissed out, "_Carson…_"

Dickers understood the underlining tone of Mason's words: it was a race between him and the cops of finding a live Carson or find him in various pieces in the Gotham River.

West Manor

About an hour later after the robbery of her charity event and making sure Cat (after she and Robbie had come down from the second floor) and Tori were alright and safely on their way home and the rest of her guests had safely left the premises, Jade had changed into an oversized t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, shedding the expensive dress as she sat at a small dining room table in the expansive kitchen usually used for the help.

Freddie sat across from her on the same side of the table as their respective chairs were turned towards one another, his jacket over the backrest of the seat, his white dress shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his tie loosened and the first button undo with the collar of what looked like a blue undershirt.

He delicately held her right hand in his left palm and looked at her knuckles already starting to discolor in a bruise. He caught the rim of his glasses delicately between his fingers and pulled them slightly down his nose as if to examine her hand closer with his naked eyes while he delicately rubbed over her knuckles one by one. He smiled in relief and whispered, "Nothing torn and nothing broken."

She snorted out a soft laugh, "And how do you know that? X-Ray vision?"

He raised one corner of his mouth and snorted out a soft laugh, "Maybe, but my mother is a nurse, so I did learn a thing or two from her." He reached over to the plate that rested a filled Ziploc bag filled with ice.

She sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth, the coldness prickling through her skin before the following numbness.

He whispered apologetically, "Sorry."

"It's okay. I've hurt myself worst a few times over exerting myself in working out."

They silently sat as she let the ice do its work of numbing her soreness and prevent some swelling. The silence wasn't uncomfortable to Jade nor was him holding her name, but she didn't like the silence so she asked, "So your mother is a nurse, what does your father do?"

Freddie looked back at her hand as he sat it on her knee. He quietly answered, "He was a farmer… he passed on a few years ago, actually just as I was graduating high school… heart attack. I think it was all the stress he never let go after the Great War finally got to him."

Jade nodded and sympathetically answered, "My father… my late father was a doctor in the war. Erwin… has told me that the experiences my father haunted him, but I never saw anything when I was younger…" She trailed off and now the silence was awkward for her in dragging up memories and feelings that she wanted long buried.

She cleared her throat and casually remarked, "You should be out there being a reporter and interviewing for the story."

"There are plenty of Gotham reporters to write what happened."

"Perhaps, but none of them were eyewitnesses to it and I would bet your boss wouldn't be too happy if you didn't write something to the story."

"You're probably right, but you're my boss too and I think you need to be taken care of first before I interview any body or write a story."

She deeply frowned and looked to him with a cold stare. Her voice was sharp and meant to cut deep. "I can doctor myself and take care of myself. I don't need you and by the way, that was stupid, jumping in front of him like that. It's just dumb luck that you weren't hit."

He patiently answered with a reassuring smile, the same kind that Tori would give her when she was trying to be supportive despite Jade insisting that was the last thing she wanted when she was in high school, "Maybe it was and I don't doubt that you can handle yourself as you showed that guy, but I made my choice to try to protect you and we can all use a little help sometimes. You certainly cleaned his clock to protect me, the least I can do is doctor your hand in thanks."

She stated in a dry voice, "You're going to infuriate me for the next few days aren't you Mister Benson?"

He cracked a boyish grin and replied, "I just might, but I'd prefer to be honest with you instead of 'kissing your arse' as Mister Mason pointed out."

Her cold expression slightly thawed then looked down at her hand to fall into silence again.

Freddie patiently waited, feeling as though she did have something more to say. His patience was rewarded when she quietly continued while looking at the bag of ice on her knuckles, "My father… jumped in front of the robber that was trying to take her necklace the same way you did and it cost him his life… then my mother died of a heart attack next to him…" She looked up at him and whispered, "I don't want that to be on my conscious."

He nodded in understanding, but then whispered, "And I didn't want your death being on mine if I had stood there and didn't attempt to do anything. It looks like we're at a stalemate."

She looked up at him to meet his crisp, but very much soft blue eyes. They were understanding and didn't dismiss her point, yet there was a strength there that she hadn't seen before under his 'mild manner' and almost bumbling ways to hold firm his point. He had hidden it, he had… he had put up an act to hide his true self, but unlike others, he hadn't done it to hid negative traits, but positive ones. It struck her as quite odd and enticed her curiosity in wanting to see more of what he had hidden. She understood about hiding a dark side, but why hide a light side?

Each held a gaze on each other, studying one another to try to guess what the other was thinking and unaware of passing time then at some point she took off the ice bag from her knuckles and sat it on the table. She lifted her hands and hesitantly reached to grab each side of his glasses frames as to pull them off to really look at him, but just as she caught the end-piece at the end of the eye-rims, a loud clearing of someone's voice broke their gaze and her movements. Jade looked to her left just as Sikowitz stated, "I'm sorry to interrupt Madam Jade, but the driver has returned from dropping off Miss Valentine and is ready to take Mister Benson to his hotel room."

She dropped her hands away from his glasses and mumbled, "Oh, ah… tell him that Mister Benson will be with him in a few minutes."

He obediently bowed his head and answered, "Yes madam." He turned towards one of the exits of the kitchen, presumably one that would lead to the front door and walked out.

"You didn't have to go through that trouble."

She cleared her throat then casually remarked, "I'm just being courteous."

"Well, thank you for the courtesy." He got up from his seat and started rolling down his sleeves. As he was putting his jacket on, she looked up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow Mister Benson."

"Yes ma'am. Is a late lunch a good time, after my church service?"

She nodded her head and politely answered, "That's fine."

He cracked a bigger smile then turned to head out of the kitchen into the direction Sikowitz exited.

She hastily called out to him just as he reached the swinging door, "Thanks for protecting me."

He stopped with his hand on the door and turned to give him a bashful smile, "Thank you for the right hook."

A hint of a smile teased on her face before he turned and exited the kitchen.

* * *

After making sure that Freddie was in the car and the driver had exited the property, Sikowitz walked back to the kitchen and saw that Jade was gone. He eagerly called out, "Madam West? Madam West?"

He quickly made his way to the study and saw that the grandfather clock shifting back into place to hide a secret opening. He quickly walked to it and reset the clock hands for the clock to move back to his left and reveal the passage. He quickly jogged down the stairs until he reached a vast open cave with various forms of equipment and a large video monitor with several smaller ones.

He desperately looked around until he spotted her opening a large opening door. He called out, "Where are you going?"

She turned away from the armored door and gave him an impatient look. "I have to find Steven before Mason or any of his goons. If I can get him to Robbie then he can use Steven to bring Mason and his whole operation down in exchange for protection. I could end this all tonight."

Sikowitz easily saw her point and the potential benefits to reap, but his parental worry asserted itself. "Everyone will be hunting him and I don't want you to be caught in the middle. You may were body armor, but you're not bullet proof like that circus act from Metropolis… and how are you going to find him in the first place?"

She pulled her shirt over her head and held it to her chest as she answered, "I've been beaten the locations of every boss and caporegime hangout for the last few weeks from every associate I get my hands on—plus the places they don't want people to know about with slipping a little cash to their prostitutes. I know where to start."

"Then why don't you just call Detective Vega or Robbie and leave it as an anonymous tip?"

"He might think I'm just trying to throw him off the track and there's no way I can explain how I found out if I tell him it's me."

Sikowitz frowned at once again not being able to find a hole in her logic.

She gave him a genuinely thankful smile and whispered once she saw his defeated expression, "Thanks for your concern, but 'The Bat' will be just fine tonight."

The butler shook his head at hearing the overconfidence in her voice.

She called out just as she entered the vault, "Oh and while I'm gone, I want you to find out everything you can about Freddie Benson and not just the information the Daily Planet has on him."

Gotham City Police Headquarters

The two caught criminals sat behind a sturdy table in one of the interrogation rooms with bright lights shining on both their faces. One had a large blue, yellow and purple knot on the left side of his forehead where Detective Vega had hit him in the head (Alan) while the other the other one had a metal brace over his nose from his clearly broken nose and his cheeks were just as discolored as his fellow crook from Jade bashing her forearm and fist (Chad).

Detective Vega and D.A. Shapiro were standing on the other side of the table, Vega looking particularly angry after the realization that his daughter had been in the middle of the robbery. He growled out, "Where's Carson?"

The one that Vega had hit spat out, "I don't know a Carson."

"You work for Carson. We know that for a fact, so there's no point in denying it. You want to go down for armed robbery while he walks away scot-free?"

Chad smiled and mockingly stated, "I want my lawyer copper."

Vega coldly replied, "He's tied up in traffic."

Robbie placed his hands on the table and leaned forward to add, "It doesn't matter when he gets here. I'm going to tell him the same thing I'm telling you: I'm having every paralegal and A.D.A. in my office right now going through every witness statement and every statue on the books to find every little thing I can charge you with on top of the second degree murder charge I'm filing against both of you. You're going to die in prison as very old men serving consecutive."

The one with the broken nose shouted out in a nasal sounding noise, "Murder? We didn't murder anyone?"

Robbie smugly pointed out, "Your co-perpetrator? The one with the hole between his eyes?"

Chad shouted in a panic, "We didn't kill him! Beck killed him!"

Robbie stood up straight and calmly retorted, "Beck killed your co-perpetrator in a clear cut case of defense of Sam and himself. However, he still died in the course of a felony, so you're responsible for his death. I'm going to make sure that you're sentenced consecutively, unless… you can give me something that would be worth my wild to pay the least amount of attention to you, say not only where you were going to drop off the money to Carson—because we know he was the one behind this—but his other dealings in the city involving his boss that you would have first hand knowledge about."

Chad put on a defiant expression and coldly whispered, "I'm no stoolpigeon!"

Vega crossed his arms over his chest and stated in a detached voice, "Then you'll be someone's bitch when you're sent up the river because they are not going to care about that 'made man' chizz."

The partners in crime looked to one another, debating whether or not they should perhaps break their oath of silence.

Ritz-Carlton Hotel  
Gotham, NJ

Steven Carson sat comfortably in the well furnished penthouse suite, but was not in the best of moods after finding out that Mason had put a hit out on him for a million dollars from his own sources and the irate voice of Quincy on the other end of the phone, _"Are you insane! I told you to wait. That I was going to take care of this 'Joker', but you decide to just try to ice Mason!"_

"How was I supposed to know he was going to leave early?! I could have taken care of both our problems. I know you don't like that he's de facto _capo di tutti capi_ and I would much whether work for you than him."

Quincy paused for a moment at Steven openly stated his preference for a change in leadership, but quickly pressed on, _"But you didn't and now every two bit thug is out for your head. How many of your own crew is ready to put one in your head for that kind of money?"_

"My crew's loyal to me, but on the safe side, I'm just laying low for tonight then I'm out of here for a while until the heat cools down without them even knowing where I'm going. I'll be fine."

As he was trying to reassure the one of the family bosses, there was a knock on the hotel door and a sweet womanly voice called out from the other side, _"Room Service."_ One of his soldiers got up from the table he and a few of his fellow mob soldiers were idly playing cards while they had the television playing in the background.

He looked through the peephole and saw only the face of a lovely blonde young lady that he wouldn't mind having a little time in the bedroom. He took a step back and opened the door, not giving it much thought that none of them had ordered room service.

As soon as the door opened, the color in his face drained almost to the same tone as the white face painted man with red lipstick and green hair on the other side of the threshold.

The clown manically laughed, "Room service!" just before he raised his silenced .45 and shot the mob solider in the face. He fell back onto the floor with a considerable thump and his most of his brains littering the carpet.

The other soldiers attempted to draw their guns and jump from their seats, but the nightmarish harlequin, devoid of her white and black makeup, raised her of all things, a suppressed Tommy gun and fired from the hip, spraying down the other three soldiers in a hail of bullets. They were dead before they hit the floor, their bodies shredded along with putting more than a dozen holes in the wall behind them.

Steven dropped the phone and hurriedly stepped out of his seat, grabbing his gun on his way out after hearing the screams of his men before they were cut down. He stepped out of the bedroom and into the main dining and living area, shakily holding his .45.

His step slowed considerably when he saw his bodyguards' lifeless bodies lying in a pool of their own blood. He finally stopped in front of the floor to ceiling open blind windows that gave a magnificent view of the cityscape.

The white face clown lazily walked towards the terrified gangster, disregarding the fact that Steven held up his gun at him, while the red and black dressed blonde pulled out of her jeans pocket a black eye mask and pulled the elastic string behind her head and straightened it on her face, obviously not having the time to paint on a mask. A few other gentleman wearing clown masks entered the room with Tommy guns and shotguns to make sure there were no surprises or interruptions from their boss.

The green haired young man laughed, "Hello Steven."

Steven squint his eyes and intently looked upon the purple dressed young man who coldly stared back at him. He took a deep breath then spoke out in barely above a whisper, "Beck?" He slightly turned his head and looked to the blonde and whispered in just as much disbelief, "Sam." He did a nearly comical double take when looking back and forth between them and pointlessly uttered, "You're the Joker and the twisted clown sidekick."

Sam growled out while shouldering her weapon and training it at his face, "I'm no sidekick, I'm 'Harley Quinn' and that'll be the last name you'll know when I put one in your brainpan."

Steven looked back to Beck in the hopes that he would reign in Sam, but Beck looked at him coldly, appearing just as annoyed that he would refer to the blonde as a 'side-kick'. He lowered his Colt and raised his other hand up and quickly stated, "Look Beck, Sam. I've never had any problems with either of you before and there doesn't have to be any trouble now. We can just forget about you burning my place down. No hard feelings man."

"Besides two-timing Tori back in high school?"

"With my best friend I'd like to add," Sam added with a hiss, not besmirching Beck for remembering yet another girl from his past that he had more than platonic feelings.

"Then one of your guys was looking for me at the fundraiser to grease… I put a hole in his head then…" The white face clowned manically laughed, "Imitation is supposedly the sincerest form of flattery, but…" He raised the barrel of his .45 towards the caporegime. "…I don't like people threatening to kill in my name without my permission."

"Okay, there's a little bad blood between us and I just accidentally stole your racket, but… I know we can cut a deal."

Beck turned the corners of his red colored lips up and darkly whispered, "Deal? There's no deal. Your guys stole from dead cops' families, you shot up my friend's home, my friends—who aren't in our business, so they don't accept the risks we do—could have gotten hurt or killed and one of your punks pointed a gun in my friend's face because you didn't have the damn balls to pick up a gun and shoot Mason yourself when you've had plenty of chances. Because of that, you're going to die tonight, but… I'm not going to give you a quick and clean death…"

The clown face painted young man moved his arms a few degrees to the left then pulled the trigger several times to shoot out the window behind and to the right of Steven.

The gangster at first covered his head to protect himself from the flying bullets past his head then turned to the now open window when the wind whipped into the room and across him. He looked back to Beck to seeing a bit of madness in the fellow gangster's eyes.

"You're going to go out that window so you'll have a few seconds to think back on your life before you go splat on the pavement."

"I'm not going to jump!"

Beck softly chuckled, "I didn't say you were." He trained his .45 at Steven's right knee and pulled the trigger, the heavy round shattering the former two-timer's kneecap and tearing out the back of his knee.

Steven's screams filled the room as he collapsed and grabbed his shattered knee, dropping his gun in the process.

The purple dressed young man walked over and grabbed Steven by his upper right arm to pull him up to balance on his left leg. He slowly walked them to the edge of the shattered window and hung Steven to lean out of the opening.

Beck smirked as he shouted over the howling wind out of the thirty story window, "You know, I was going to make sure you got back all your money from when I robbed your place—all if it—including Mason's usual cut once I got him out of the way and 'retired' the clown, but… what ifs you know?"

Steven spat out in anger and pain, "Go to Hell Beck."

Beck winked and whispered over the wind, "Save me a seat."

Before the criminal clown could let him go, the neighboring window shattered to Beck's right and in a blur, a dark figure rolled into the room then stood up.

The harlequin trained her Tommy gun at the dark figured while the others took a few steps back, not knowing what to make of the newcomer until they realized that all the ramblings of the other crews were true: there was a 'Bat'.

The purple wearing fellow looked on in mild surprise as well, but he had enough wits about him to realize that the 'Bat' was clearly a woman when briefly seeing her curve framed from the nearly skintight dark grey bodysuit with dark navy outer briefs hugging said curves very nicely and dark navy armored shine guards before the cape fell in front of her and the near black curly hair flowing out the back of her cowl several inches below her neck.

The 'Joker' let out a manic laugh as he commented, "Nice suit."

The black dressed figure looked like she paused at getting a good look at the clown, but quickly responded with a sweet voice, like a siren… that would drag him straight to Hell, "Let him go."

"Let him go?" He glanced around to his companion and his gang and laughed, "Let him go? She wants me to let him go…" He looked back to the dark figure while he let his smile fade. He whispered, "That's exactly what I was about to do, but it's a poor choice of words on your part." He gave Steven a hard shove out of the window.

Steven let out a cry of sheer terror as he started his fall to his death.

The 'Bat' immediately turned from the opening she just made and leapt out of the window.

Beck looked down to see the 'Bat' fall with Sam quickly walking up beside him to join him in looking at the fallen figures.

The blonde idly commented, "Think she can fly?"

He shrugged a shoulder.

* * *

The Bat threw out her fists in front of her to help cut through the air and catch up with the flaying gangster. She reached him less than a second later and grabbed him by wrapping her arm around him then grabbed an object from her belt. She threw her arm up to reveal holding a handle attached at the end of a cylinder. She pressed a stud at the top of the handle with her thumb and the next moment a loud pop emanated at the end of it and a dart with a line fired upward.

The diamond tipped dart hit the sliver of steel between windows of two stories and the 'SMART' tip drilled into the steel then held on as the line became taunt, stopping the pair's decent, but causing them to swing back towards the building. She lifted her feet up in time for the soles of her reinforced boots to hit one of the windows while bending her knees, causing it to spider web crack across almost the entire surface but remaining intact.

She growled in frustration and a little pain as she held on to the handle of her dart launcher to support her and Steven's weight. She whispered to him, "Hang on to me as tightly as you can and don't let go."

"That's the last thing on my mind!"

She let go of his waist and reached around to behind her to her very dark yellow, almost brown utility belt and pulled out another one of her dart/grapplers. She bent her knees further then pushed off with all her strength to fling them back then fired off the second dart/grappler at the window. The dart easily penetrated the cracked window, shattering the window completely to fall apart, and sent the dart into the opposite wall. She squeezed reel in trigger on the one in her left hand to help pull them inside once they swung in while at the same time pressed the safety release button on the other one to release the line.

Once the first line was released, they dropped hard to the floor and dragged several feet inside before she let go of the reel in button. Steven screamed in pain as he was dragged several feet across the broken glass beside the fact that his lower right leg was uselessly hanging from his shattered knee. Fortunately for the young woman, her cape and her suit were knife resistant, so the glass uselessly nicked at the material.

* * *

Sam whispered out in astonishment at seeing the costumed woman catch Steven and swing into the window, "She actually saved the son-of-a-bitch. Who is she?"

Beck replied in mild dread, "Yes she did and that's a good question…"

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. First meeting with the 'Joker' and 'The Bat'. It was short, but I hope it was memorable and I hope you saw the first hints of insight on my take of the iconic character of 'The Joker' as there have been many different interpretation of the character. Mark Hamill is so underappreciated in the role.  
Useless note, in New Jersey, someone cannot be charged with the death of co-perpetrator for the felony murder rule, but I hope you've noticed by now that this story isn't exactly set in say modern times like 'Batman Begins', 'The Dark Knight' and the 'The Dark Knight Rises' since we have everyone carrying .38s, Colt. 45s and Thompson Submachine guns.


	5. Let's Cut a Deal

Hello readers, here is this week's update. I'm back to work, so the updates won't come as quickly as they did around the New Year but I'm glad that you're tuning in.

Twilight Warrior 627: I was surprised people didn't figure it out in the very next chapter where introduce Beck with Sam by his side in the board meeting: a long haired guy and a blonde rob the place then the next chapter, a well known long haired guy is paired off with a blonde…

Jeremy Shane: I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks.

Challenge King: Going through a traumatic event can have that happen to you. However, there is a newness to meeting each other for the first time and having one's expectations being a surprise.

Beck's reasons does put an interesting twist on the fact that he's suppose to be the designated villain and this universe's version of the mad Crown Prince of Crime.

Boris Yeltsin: Arleen Sorkin is Harley Quinn, just like Kevin Conroy is Batman and Mark Hamill is The Joker.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Carson is a means to an end and of course there will be heartbreak when truths are revealed.

Illusorygentleman has updated his horror story, so you should check it out and still weighting patiently on updates from Fanfic-Reader-88 and PD31.

Rating T

* * *

Chapter 4

Freddie walked into to his small, but adequate hotel room after Jade's driver dropped him off in front of the hotel. The Planet hadn't exactly been generous with the budget for a place to stay while he worked on his piece and he had opted not to spend his own money to upgrade his accommodations as he didn't see his trip as a vacation.

He flipped on a light switch then shut the door behind him before walking further into the hotel room. He pulled his jacket off and tossed it to the cushioned chair next to his bed before walking over to the police scanner he had set up on the small desk to his room since he didn't have the same connections on the Gotham police department or the more unsavory elements of the city as he did in Metropolis. He hoped it would pay off in hearing about events in a reasonable amount of time. It didn't exactly work out that way when the scanner crackled to life and the voice reported, "All units in the vicinity of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, we have multiple 'one-eight-sevens' at that location. We have reports that it may have been a gang hit. Use extreme caution."

A cold expression formed on his face as he loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt to reveal the neckline of the blue garment he wore underneath his shirt…

Interrogation Room

Gotham Police Headquarters

There was the signal knock on the door behind the cop and D.A., causing Detective Vega to turn away from the sweating and nearly panicking criminals. After nearly twenty minutes of sweating under the lights and debating whether they should accept Robbie's deal, he heard Robbie mutter as he opened the door and exited the room, "Gentlemen, my offer is for a limited time."

He immediately looked on a senior uniformed officer and asked, "What's going on?"

The older gentleman quickly answered, "David, we have a phone call from your daughter. She was very insistent in speaking with you."

David's heart clenched and he quickly followed the officer to one of the desks where a younger police detective was holding a phone with his hand over the mouthpiece. He quickly handed it off to the senior detective and Vega quickly asked, "Tori?"

"_Dad? I just got a strange call. Someone told me to call you to tell you that Steven Carson was left on the roof of police headquarters."_

The muscles around his eyes tightened in surprised and he snapped out in confusion, "What?"

_"I know it sounds crazy, but that's what they said. They know you're a detective and that I was here to make sure the word would get passed to you. They didn't trust any of the other cops to let you know."_

David Vega turned and snapped his fingers to one of his fellow detectives to get her attention and whispered, "Jenny, I need a patrol car at my house _right now_."

The woman quickly nodded and picked up the phone from her desk and started tapping a number on the phone keypad.

He turned his attention back to the phone and quickly asked, "Tori, did they say anything else? Has anyone else called? Are you safe?"

"_I'm safe. All the doors and windows are locked. They didn't say anything else. They hung up and I called you right away. Whoever it was sounded pretty desperate to make sure I got the message to you and only you."_

"Okay, don't leave the house. I'll be home as soon as I can and in the meantime, I'm sending a patrol car to the house. Stay safe."

_"I will dad."_

"I love you."

_"I love you too dad."_

He hung up the phone and quickly turned to head back to the interrogation room, ignoring the curious expressions from his fellow officers. He opened the door and motioned his head out, "Mister Shapiro, a word please?"

The glasses wearing D.A.'s eyes squinted in confusion, but decided to hold back his question in front of the crooks. He looked ot the pair and stated simply, "Think about it gentlemen." He turned and headed out to join the detective.

The pair stepped outside and Vega caught the door handle to make sure the door was closed then quickly spoke, not wanting the other observing officers overhear them, "Tori just got a call from an anonymous source to tell me where Carson is."

"Really? Where?"

"On the roof."

Robbie blinked with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "On the _roof_?"

"Yes, you want to check it out?"

Robbie nervously laughed, "Probably a prank, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to check. I could use a breath of fresh air and they could take a few more minutes to stew."

Vega glanced over to one of the younger detectives observing and ordered, "Make sure they don't do anything stupid. We're grabbing a coffee and letting them think over the D.A.'s offer, so make sure no one goes in there and I mean _no one_."

He nodded his head then the pair walked off.

Less than a minute after leaving the interrogation room, Vega was the first one out of the rooftop door and cautiously walked into the windy night. Shapiro nervously walked behind him, eagerly scanning the surroundings to see if he could spot the gangster.

The police detective walked only a few more paces before stopping in his tracks when he saw Carson sitting with his arms tied behind his back and his hastily, but well bandaged up knee with a clearly visible blood stain seeping through the bandage and a tourniquet tied above his knee.

Detective Vega whispered, "Son of a bitch…"

The officer and D.A. quickly ran to the tied up gangster. Vega knelt down and pulled he gag out of his mouth and down over Steven's chin and the gangster immediately started rambling, "Get me to a doctor! Beck shot my knee and threw me out of a window to kill me! He's the Joker! He's real! The Joker's real! And the Bat! The Bat is real too!"

The detective and D.A. glanced to each other, seeing if the other had heard the near ramblings.

Carson's Former Suite  
Ritz-Carlton Hotel  
Gotham, NJ

The hotel was nearly as silence as a tomb as for the moment it was the resting place for the four gangsters as no one had dared attempted to go on the floor to see what had happened. The only thing that broke the silence was the occasional gust of wind blowing out of the broken window.

That sound was soon joined by the sound of something like a sheet or curtain fluttering in the wind. The material fluttering turned out to be a red cape being worn by a muscular young man wearing a dark blue formfitting bodysuit/armor made of some material not of the Earth.

He slowly glided through the frame of the broken window and into the room, hovering above the floor as to not to disturb the scene. He could smell dozens of different smells including of the previous cleanings of the room and gunpowder with of course the dominating one being the stench of death.

He looked around the room with his enhanced telescopic vision to see the devastation of bullet riddled wall, table and of course the deceased men, thrown down like rag dolls as they were sprawled out on the floor and having soaked the carpet around them in their blood.

He looked into another band of the EM spectrum that the press had dubbed 'X-ray vision', but had the characteristics more akin to a sonogram, to look upon the bodies and the surrounding areas. He saw the more than a dozen common .45 caliber bullets in the bodies, lodged in the table and the wall. He turned his gaze to look for shell casings, but saw that there weren't any littering the floor. He slightly frowned at that development, but was somewhat impressed that the killers were smarter than other gangsters when making a hit.

He turned in place to look around the rest of the suite to see another spot of blood, smaller than the rest, near one of the shattered windows. The spot actually turned out to be the beginning of a small trail leading to the broken window. He glided to the opening and looked down to the ground more than two dozen stories down. He focused on the area and with the use of his telescopic vision, saw the faintest of blood spots on the pavement.

The scene was clear to him that someone had been injured and went through the widow in some fashion, but hadn't hit the ground. As he contemplated the inconsistency, he noticed a thin line gently blowing in the breeze with one end attached to something against the side of the building just two floors down from the room.

His focus wasn't entirely looking at the line as his enhanced hearing could hear several individuals making their way down the hallway towards.

Two officers in body armor holding Thompson submachine guns to their shoulders slowly walked into the apartment, fanning out to the left and right, walking around the dead gangster still lying just inside the threshold of the room. Gary soon followed and the three scanned the surrounding scene as a few other armored and uniformed officers joined them. Once the room was cleared of any potential threats, the tension among them dropped.

Gary holstered his weapon as he looked down at the dead gangsters. He shook his head and muttered, "Carson was certainly hit hard."

Another detective joined him and asked, "Are we sure this is related to him? That these are his guys?"

He glanced to the younger detective and patently remarked, "That's what he was muttering as they were taking him to the hospital."

"Okay, but by who? Someone mad that they hit the fundraiser? Or maybe someone taking the opportunity to hit him while the heat's on him?"

"He's yelling that it was Beck."

"Beck?"

"Beck Oliver, a guy he works with. Sounds like a desperate attempt to take one of his enemies down with him. The guy is friends with my partner's daughter and he never struck me as that tough of a guy—just made people think he could handle himself. I don't believe for a moment he had the spine to do such a thing."

The muscular man dressed in blue with a red cape had gently moved downward out of sight of the police officer, but remained to overhear their conversation. They began to canvas the scene and idly chat while waiting for the forensic team to arrive and do a proper forensic investigation.

He moved by his will towards the beginning of the line and noticed a silver color dart was stuck in the metal beam between the floor to ceiling windows of the hotel room above and below the metal beam. He reached out and gave the gentlest of tugs to feel that it was pretty well embedded into the metal and with the knowledge of the thin line attached to it, realized that it could perhaps hold a person's body weight.

Someone had caught the person—Carson—he quickly realized and he figured only one person could have caught him—'The Bat'. The Bat had to be involved.

Could 'The Bat' have killed Carson's men kidnapped him to deliver to the police?

But there hadn't been any reports that he had killed anyone, especially this violently.

But if that was the case, why was he saying Beck was the one that tried to kill him?

He had more questions now than when he arrived and it spurred him on. He turned his focus on the area of the metal just around the dart. The next moment the metal started to heat up and melted as his right eye looked around the dart in a near perfect circle. He stopped just before he would cut the line then moved it to the side and finished cutting out a circular piece around the dart with his heat vision.

He pulled the dart and metal it was embedded then looked down to see how far the line fell before quickly rolling it up in a blur of motion. After he finished winding the line, he descended downward until he reached the second broken window where the end of the line once reached.

The sense of smell hit him again and it was the smell of the drying blood was the overwhelming smell in the room, but there was another, fainter smell of a second person, presumably 'The Bat', that lingered in the room. He took a moment to realize that it was familiar, one that he had smelled earlier in the evening. However, he quickly dismissed the possibly choice and his mind just playing a trick on him with the smell.

He saw another trail of blood where the smell originated in the hotel room and it leading to the door. He saw another punctured mark in the wall near the door from the corner of his eye and saw that the hole was about the same size as the dart in his hand and filed that away in his mind for the moment. He looked through the door to see the trail down the hall then around the corner, seeing through other walls until he saw where it ended at a side exit of the hotel.

In a blur if anyone had saw him, he flew out of the window and around to the side of the hotel where Carson and the Bat had exited. He continued to follow the trail until it abruptly ended in a secluded spot behind the hotel. Since the ground was still wet from the previous night's rainstorm, he could make out several sets of tire tracks, one next to the other for what looked like a total of six tires. There were four trailing tires were larger and looked something from a tractor trailer. The tire trail led off to an exit onto the main road and was of course lost among the few passing cars at this time of night.

Seeing nothing else to be gained from remaining, he looked up and soared into the dark night.

Mason Thornesmith's Penthouse

Mason sat behind his desk about an hour after Dickers and his officers had cleared out of his penthouse looking at a number of his top caporegimes except for Beck. As soon as he was alone with his associates, he had put out the hit on Carson and another bounty on whoever had broken into his apartment and stole his property with the instructions that if anyone had the idea of somehow blackmailing him with the material if he or she recovered it, he'd kill them too.

However, he wasn't expecting news this quickly from his captains and the look on their faces told him that it wasn't good news that they were about to deliver.

He looked to Ryder, knowing full well that he and Carson were friends. Putting a bullet in the young man's head and tossing him in the West River would have been the prudent thing to do in case he was involved in the attempted regicide, but the last thing he needed to show to his underlings and the other bosses was that he was paranoid and flailing about at striking at any perceived threat.

"You look like you came back from a funeral. Is Carson dead?"

Ryder frowned and looked to his boss with a guarded expression, but the mob boss could see the angry look in his eyes. "No, he's not dead, the suite Carson likes taking his girls was shot up less than an hour ago and a number of his guys are dead, but he's still alive."

Mason slowly asked, "Who hit his place and where is he then?"

Ryder cleared his throat then answered with a hesitant tone, "Our sources on the police force say that Carson was delivered on the rooftop by… by 'The Bat'."

The mobster slightly tilted his forehead forward and softly questioned, "The Bat?"

"Yes, he was screaming his head off to anyone that would listen about how she had saved him… after the Joker—_Beck_—had killed his guys and threw him out of the window."

Mason's mouth became a thin line then slowly asked, having a hard time believing he was asking such a thing, "The 'Bat' is a woman and he said that Beck is the 'The Joker'?"

"Yes."

The mob boss relaxed back in his chair, contemplating the news that Beck could be the joker fellow that was robbing him and burning his places down. It would be an interesting development and had a ring of truth to it: Beck was out of paying his monthly cut to him if someone else was robbing him and his fellow gangsters. However, he put that aside for a moment to deal with the immediate threat and quietly asked, "Where's Carson now?"

"He's in the hospital in surgery. Beck apparently shot him in the kneecap before trying to throw him out the window. Vega and Shapiro are waiting for him to get out to talk to him about what happened. They're saying that the D.A. is going to offer him a sweetheart deal to get him to talk about everything. Carson's boys they caught were ready to roll on him, so he could do the same to the rest of us."

He glanced away towards his window in disgust and hissed out, "Get me Dickers on the phone. We got to shut him up before he talks then someone get me Beck on the phone."

"And if we can't? Get him to shut up I mean."

He looked back at the friend of his attempted murderer and hissed out, "Do I really have to answer such a question?"

Gotham Community General

Detective Vega anxiously paced about the hallway outside of the operating room. He hadn't been this nervous since waiting for his daughter to be born. Carson may have been only shot in the knee, but there was still the possibility that he could bleed out or short of that have a stroke and be useless to question.

Robbie was far calmer as he had a seat. He was just as eager to speak with Carson, but he wasn't as windup as the detective and feeling an abnormally high amount of self confidence that everything would turn out alright especially after getting those tough gangster to the point of spilling everything to him.

_"Of course you feel confident, you just janked Valentine so hard on one of Jade's spare beds you had the girl seeing stars. That would make anyone confident,"_ an urban accented voice laughed in his head.

Robbie instantly shot his left hand up and pressed his pointer and middle finger to his temple and hissed out, _"Rex!"_

Vega stopped his pacing and turned to the D.A. hearing him hiss, but not understanding what he said, "Mister Shapiro, are you okay?"

Robbie dropped his fingers and looked up at the police detective, but he was fortunately saved from answering when the doctor walked out into the hallway, stealing his attention. He quickly walked over and asked, "Doctor? How is he?"

Doctor Levinson pulled of his cap and answered in a straightforward professional manner but then quickly trailed off, "The bullet shattered his kneecap and he did loose some blood, but he should pull through just fine. He'll probably never walk correctly unless he gets one of those magical leg braces being made by NevelCorp. I hear they're coming up with wondrous things in Metropolis. That whole place is like the World's Fair of thirt—"

"Never mind that, can he talk?"

The doctor quickly focused and answered, "Yes, we only gave him a local and they're rolling him to a private room right now. He was afraid if we put him under he'd never wake up again."

Vega remarked as he passed the doctor to catch up to the rolling gurney, "He has a lot of people that want him dead."

Robbie was hastily got up from his seat to follow the detective. They had almost caught up with him when the elevator opened and Commissioner Dickers walked out with two detectives. He quickly spotted his detective and the D.A. "I just heard the news with Carson: someone tried to kill him and 'The Bat' saved him?"

"Yes sir on both accounts." Vega motioned past him towards the gurney moving around the corner. "He's just out of surgery. We were about to talk to him."

Dickers looked to his left to see the nurse rounding the corner then looked back to his detective. He suppressed the rage in his gut that the idea that 'The Bat', some damn vigilante, was really out there and about to make him look like a fool for denying its existence for so long. However, he had more important things to worry about than some nut in a costume. He politely asked, "Is that such a good idea to talk to him right now? I'd hate for any convention to be tossed out on some technicality about him unable to assist his own defense after coming out of surgery."

"They gave him a local for the surgery, so he's not under any kind of mind altering drug and he can answer any questions and make any decision under a sound mind."

"What about waiting for his lawyer? I know he's smart enough to had to demand one by now."

Vega shook his head. "He doesn't want one. He's ready to spill everything because he knows we're not letting him go and with a busted knee, he's not going to be able to get away before one of Mason's guys puts a bullet in his head."

"Detective Vega, I do not appreciate the unfounded and blatant slanderous accusation against Mister Thornesmith who I consider a friend."

Vega hid his disgust for the man of being so blind or worst, complicit with the Mob's activities. He calmly replied, "I wasn't trying to make one sir, just repeating what he believes: Mister Thornesmith wants him dead after trying to have him killed tonight. If he believes that then we can get him to tell us everything he knows about the Mob of Gotham."

This time Dickers didn't suppress his frown as he almost offhandedly dismissed, "I still have serious doubts of such a thing as organized crime other than a handful of gangs that we are trying to eradicate detective."

Vega patiently answered, "Be that as it may, he may have something to offer us."

The commissioner suppressed the urge to make any other suggestion on waiting to talk to Carson would look too blatantly suspicious. He instead put on a smile and asked, "Do you mind if I sit in on the questioning? I want to hear firsthand what he has to say."

Vega hated playing politics, but he could play the game, so he smiled and answered in an easy going manner, "Of course not sir. I think him seeing you realize how serious we're taking him executing an armed robbery with the attempt to try to kidnap or possibly kill Mister Thornesmith."

Detective Vega was the first to enter the room followed by Robbie and the commissioner, but leaving his two detective escorts outside with the uniformed officers taking up their position to guard the hospital room.

Robbie cleared his throat and nervously asked Carson as the young mobster was trying to get comfortable sitting upright in his bed with a pillow under his right knee, "How are you feeling Steven?"

He gave Robbie a disgusted expression and snapped, "How am I feeling? Beck put a .45 into my knee where I probably will never walk right again and he threw me out of a twenty-five story window to kill me, how do you think I feel?"

Robbie frowned at the hostile reaction, but didn't get a chance to reply as the sandy haired gangster pointed to Dickers and shouted, "I want him out of here. I'm not talking with Mason's bitch in the room."

The commissioner gave him a death glare and looked like he was about to walk across the room and strangle the life out of the young man.

Carson retorted to the look with a harsh snap, "Don't give me that outrageous look. I know how much Mason pays you to keep the police off his back. Does anyone believe you afford your lifestyle on your salary?"

The commissioner snapped back in an instant, "Trying to toss out outrageous accusations isn't helping you. I know about your two guys that were caught at the fundraiser and they're squealing like pigs. What's going to help you is to tell the truth and save us all the expense of a trial and maybe you won't be spending the rest of your life in prison."

Carson confidently smiled and answered, "This is the truth: Mason runs this town and you, the mayor and the city council are all his bitches because he pays all of you very well to keep it that way."

In possibly an uncharacteristic display of defending his boss, Vega retorted, "And how would you prove that? A fake ledger with money payouts? Do you have my name in it too? Or Shapiro's? Hell, do you have an entry that says you paid off Santa Clause to get yourself off the naughty list too? You're not a numbers man to make it look believable."

"Beck's the numbers man!"

Steven quickly shut his mouth the instant he realized he spoke the name.

Robbie looked to Steven just as annoyingly and cold as the commissioner, clearly upset that the guy would try to smear Beck (the exact thing he was worried Mason would try to do to him) and take Beck's legitimate business skills with numbers as a way to try to bolster his claims.

Vega crossed his arms over his chest and casually walked to one side of the bed. He looked down at the bedridden mobster and dismissively remarked, "Beck is going to help you? You said he's the one that shot you and threw you out the window… as 'The Joker'."

He knew making the statement would get under the commissioner's skin at taking the clown seriously almost as much as openly admitting that there was 'a Bat', but it was necessary to rattle Steven's cage.

"I did. Beck is the Joker. He's the one that's been robbing then burning our places down."

Vega snapped, "Beck's the Joker? Then how come it was your guys wearing the clown masks that robbed the benefit tonight? We got two of them in an interrogation room ready to spill everything."

Steven deeply frowned at the detective, but saw it as pointless to deny it. "I stole his racket without realizing it to throw off suspicion, but he's the Joker and he's our bookkeeper. Now go arrest him for trying to kill me and while you're at it, his crazy bitch of a girlfriend for killing my boys."

Robbie rolled his eyes and dismissively laughed, "Oh, so Sam's involved now? So, Beck's the crazy clown that's robbing from you, but he's your bookkeeper while the commissioner is a dirty cop?" He walked around to the opposite side of the bed that Detective Vega was standing and in a surprised amount of confidence, stated, "You think any of that chizz is going to get you out of me prosecuting you for masterminding an armed robbery? I need the truth about you, the robbery and what other dealings you have with your mob buddies or you're going to be doing hard time for the rest of your life very much alone."

Vega softly muttered, "Assuming someone doesn't finish the job as soon as you get there."

Steven heard the detective's remark, but ignored it and shouted, "It's the truth! We all know everyone I mentioned is on the take and Beck obviously is making some kind of play with his whole Joker act because he's finally tired of paying Mason his cut. You might not believe me with Beck because he's your friend, but I can prove it even without Beck's ledger I know he keeps at home." He looked to Dickers and finished in a chilly tone, "I'll tell you how, but he has to leave the room, you have to make sure he or his boys don't kill me first and make it worth my wild to not drag this out in a messy and expensive trial where you get nothing on Mason and the rest of them."

Robbie glanced at the detective and the commissioner in a manner that suggested he wanted to speak with them outside.

Steven continued to wear a cold expression as the three exited the room and walked a few paces down the hallway so that the guarding officers wouldn't overhear their conversation. Dickers was the first to speak with a slightly annoyed tone, "He has nothing but self serving accusations to try to muck up what is a clear cut case of him masterminding the robbery tonight, possible kidnapping of Mister Thornesmith and possibly being this 'Joker' so we can add a few arsons to the charges. You don't need to cut him any deals. We've got his boys willing to roll on him with the obvious M.O."

The D.A. shared the briefest of glances then diplomatically continued, a far cry from his nervous and reluctant nature that haunted him throughout high school, "I'd like to see what he has though. The more he spills the more evidence I have to nail him for tonight."

Dickers frowned and remarked in an almost accusatory tone, "Even if they're lies like accusing your friend of being the one that really is behind the fires and tried to kill him tonight?"

Vega spoke up, "We'll be able to discern facts from his lies."

"But will a jury when he finally gets one of his crooked lawyers here and in the courtroom?"

"It won't get that far. He'll give up all the small gangs and finally eradicate almost all the rest of the crime in Gotham to keep from spending the rest of his life in prison."

The commissioner didn't look convinced, but he couldn't bully Robbie as the D.A. nor did he want to sour the working relationship they had develop in the few short weeks the young man had the job. He blew out a breath and reluctantly finished, "Then I'll leave that to you detective. I'm going to check with your partner about how his investigation is going at the hotel and see who really is behind trying to kill him. Please keep me up to speed on this."

He turned and quickly walked towards the elevator, quickly joined by his waiting escorts without waiting to hear a response from either Vega or Robbie.

Vega immediately looked to Robbie and whispered, "I know Beck's your friend and he's been a friend to Tori for nearly ten years, but could Steven be right that Beck could be this Joker? Could he really be working for Mason in his crimes and not just innocently working for one of his front companies?"

Robbie directed an angry look at the detective and dismissively remarked with an incredulous look on his face, "This is coming from the man that cheated on your daughter and is saying 'The Bat' is a woman. The only things I'm believing from him is what I know to be true and that is that Mason is the head of the Mob."

The detective softly chuckled, "Point… 'The Bat' a woman?" He motioned with a nod of his head back to the room and lightheartedly spoke, "Let's see what he has to say and see if he can prove it."

* * *

In the elevator, Dickers pulled out his wireless phone from his pocket and quickly dialed a number. The moment the other end of the line picked up, he harshly whispered, "Get to Carson's place and his office and take every shred of paper then trash the rest. He's spilling his guts, but it'll be pointless if he doesn't have the proof to back it up." He pressed the end call button and shoved the phone into his pocket.

His escorts had learned when to ignore their boss and this had been one of those times.

* * *

Author's Note: Not a lot of action, but it did move the plot along with seeds of doubt planted and future development. I hope to have the next chapter out by next weekend or sooner. Thanks for reading.

Useless bit of trivia, but the actor that plays Doctor Levinson is the voice of Robin from the Animated Series.


	6. Watch that First Step

Hello readers! I hope you're doing well.

Nikki78: Thank you. I thought the previous chapters made it clear who 'The Bat' was, but stay tuned if you have doubts.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Steven has plenty of good options to cut a deal and hopefully live out his life in a secluded location for turning on the Mob.

Challenge King: Thank you. I hope you like this chapter.

Twilight Warrior 627: This is a crime drama/Noir piece with the dressing of a superhero lens, so there could a few who get what is coming to them.

Illusorygentleman just updated his horror story, so you should take a look. PD31 also updated an oldie 'Here's to Us', so check them out.

I also saw the Sam & Cat reunion episode… Jade thought Freddie was hot…

Rating: T Violence

* * *

Chapter 5

Robbie Shapiro's Apartment

The clock hanging in the living room ticked towards three in the morning when Robbie arrived home to his apartment after going through hearing a marathon session of confessions about crimes Steven had committed for the last five years on behalf of Mason and all the illegal schemes the Mob boss was running. He had thought about stopping by Cat's house and spending the rest of the night with her, but he realized he needed sleep more than 'playing pirates' with her. He'd at least give her a call before he went to bed.

The D.A. walked into his bedroom while pulling off his jacket and immediately noticed that his longtime puppet Rex was sitting on his bed braced up with his pillows and holding a stuffed manila envelope in his arms. Robbie threw his jacket into a chair and took a seat on the bed then picked up the puppet.

The pajama wearing puppet immediately came to life and spoke, "Someone left you a package."

"How did someone leave a package?"

Rex snapped, "I don't know; I was asleep when they broke in and moved me to the bed."

Robbie was flabbergasted as he shouted, "Someone broke in?!"

The puppet flippantly remarked, "Ah yeah. How else did they get in? All the windows and door are locked, so they just didn't walk inside."

"Who broke in?"

Rex snapped, somewhat irritated by what he thought of Robbie's stupid questions, "I don't know, I was asleep. You know I wear my sleeping mask to bed. I woke up and this was in my arms then I went back to bed."

The D.A. closed his eyes and softly shook his head, suppressing a sigh. He opened his eyes and cautiously looked at the envelope for a moment when Rex shouted, "Well aren't you going to open it?"

He pulled the envelope out of Rex's arms then laid the puppet down to open it. The content was a thick folder with a note taped on the top with the following words printed on it: 'A gift. The rest is in Rex's bed.'

Robbie frowned at someone knowing Rex's name as he hadn't been out in public since college and that was during shows he did to make money on the side to pay for it. He opened the folder and his eyes immediately almost popped out of his sockets as he read what where financial and true ownership records involving Mason with companies that he had suspected were front companies along side his legitimate businesses, but could never prove.

He started laughing to the point of near hysterics that it looked like had a treasure-trove on Mason along with whatever Steven could give him. In one night, he could bring down the entire Gotham Mob.

Beck Oliver's Apartment  
Gotham City, NJ

At the same time as Robbie was having the best night of his life, Sam eagerly paced about the living room, ringing her hands in a nervous twitch as the television played GCN. She of course had slipped out of her dress hours ago—and another outfit for the late night/early morning excursion—and changed into a very short beige silky slip with the hem ending just past her bottom to go to bed, but sleep would not come to her.

The blonde was always cool under fire, literally at times, with only the occasional slip up when she was younger. However after earlier in the evening, she had been on edge. She had eaten a little on every one of her favorite foods, but it didn't calm her nerves so she was pacing and waiting to hear any late breaking news, even at this hour.

Beck lazily walked into the living room in a t-shirt and boxers, scratching the back of his head and letting out a soft yawn. He stopped at seeing the blonde's agitation yet still incredibly sexy appearance in her nightwear. He sat aside the latter fact and asked the obvious, "Can't sleep?"

She stopped her pacing and cocked her head to the side, giving him an incredulous expression.

He quietly asked, "You want to talk about what happened tonight?"

She crossed her arms under her chest, slightly raising it and flashing a little bit more of her cleavage. "I'm not interesting in sharing my feelings."

"I know that, but sometimes… you did… you did kill some of Steven's guys. You just can't brus—"

She snorted out in mild disgust, "That's not what's bothering me. They were scum and I'm not even talking about how they weren't any different than their buddies that would have hurt Cat if she had gotten in their way or could have shot Jade in the face. Good riddance. I don't see you all torn up with shooting that one guy in the face."

He frowned as she had been totally correct; he wasn't really bothered by killing the guy. He wasn't sure if that made him a coldhearted bastard or just someone that could compartmentalize the violence. He calmly asked, "Okay, then what's bothering you?"

"What's bothering me? What's bothering me?" She started laughing and throwing her hands up in the air. "Steven knows who we are and he's going to tell Robbie who we are because he didn't go splat on the pavement because of that bat-chick."

Beck cocked an eyebrow and replied in a casual manner, "You think Robbie is going to believe him? Really?"

Sam glanced away towards her left at the television to see the blonde continue to read the news.

Beck walked to her and wrapped his arms around her to just above her rear. He reassuringly whispered, "He's not going to believe him and besides, we're each others alibis. Everyone knows that we left Jade's house together and they're going to believe that you stayed over for the night."

She rested her arms on his biceps and the expression on her face showed that she wasn't entirely convinced that they had nothing to worry about. She spoke with a soft frown, "What about that woman dressed up as a bat? She might be able to identify us… she could come after us like she's been doing with all the street thugs."

The onetime inspiring actor laughed, "A nut dressed up in a bad Halloween costume? She'd make a fine witness in a courtroom and that's if she could identify me through all the makeup _and_ if she wants to come after us… it didn't look to me that she could wear any kind of body arm under skin tight costume."

The blonde cocked her head to the side and looked at him with an un-approving expression.

"What? It wasn't hard to tell she was clearly a woman."

She rolled her eyes.

He softly chuckled then slightly pulled her closer to him. "Come on, let's go to bed."

She remarked in a tone that clearly indicated that she wanted to blow him off, "I'm still wind up."

He smiled to her in a near predatory manner and glanced down to her slightly pale cleavage, "Well, there are ways we could take care of that."

He didn't wait for an answer before he dipped his head to his right and started kissing along the left side of her neck.

She closed her eyes and softly hummed as the soft lips danced across her skin then across her collarbone and towards her shoulder after he pulled down the spaghetti strap over her shoulder. He slipped his hands down over the soft curvature of her behind then cupped each cheek through the silky material.

The blonde hopped and wrapped her legs around him and arms around his neck just as she hissed, "Bed, NOW!"

He laughed against the crook of her neck then turned to head for the bedroom.

Gotham Community General  
Gotham, NJ

Steven clicked off the television and was finally trying to go to sleep after relaxing for a bit after his epic confession to every little crime that he could connect to Mason for the D.A. and the police detective. He could definitely use the sleep after tonight besides the fact that he had nearly been up for the last twenty-four hours.

However, that was not to be the case as the door to the private room opened and Mason walked inside, his bodyguards remaining outside.

Steven used every bit of his willpower not to display a look of panic. He quickly hid behind outrage as he shouted, "What are you doing here? How did you get past the cops? Even Dickers wouldn't let you in here."

Mason ignored him for a moment it took him to take a comfortable seat in one of the neighboring seats, crossing his legs and rested back in the seat. He smiled to Steven, but had an obvious underlining dark expression to it. "Even cops have to use the loo once in a while. It has been a very long night Steven and I would like to get to bed before the sun rose, but I wanted to check on you, so Steven, how are you?"

Steven glanced to his knee and spat in disgust, "I've been better."

"So I can see… if you hadn't tried to kill me, maybe you wouldn't have ended up here."

"Beck didn't try to kill me because of you. He had his own beef because of tonight. My boys were too stupid to shoot up his friend's house and threaten them… even stupider that one of my guys couldn't put a bullet in Beck's head."

Mason let a short snort out then remarked, "No, what was stupid was you to rob from the bloody cops then tried to have me killed. You're fortunate that it's only your knee that is a bloody mess because every hired gun was looking for you."

"Well I don't have to worry about that now and you can save your million dollars. No one can touch me now. Even Dickers couldn't arrange for me to have an accident without it looking obvious that you pulled the string. Shapiro wouldn't stop his investigation and he'd unravel that too."

Mason lazily smiled as he got up from his seat and crossed the short distance to stand to the right side of the bed. Steven looked up at him curiously for the hair of a second it took for the crime boss the throw out his hand grip the younger man by the throat and give a tight squeeze.

The mob boss gritted his teeth and looked upon the younger man with hatred in his eyes. "Or maybe I'll finish the job Beck or the crazy clown—or one in the same—started and throw you out this window and have them rule it a suicide?"

Steven gargled and clawed at Mason's hand while his other one desperately tried to grab the call help button, but the mob boss latched on to Steven's wrist with his other hand. Mason had maintained his physical fitness over the years and was able to lift Steven out of the bed by his throat and wrist then started dragging him to the window.

The young mob soldier uselessly flailed his good leg in trying to stand up as he was dragged towards. He tried punching Mason in the stomach as the elder gangster let his wrist go to open the latch and pushed open the window.

Mason deadlifted his attempted assassin to the windowsill and they looked each other in the eyes for another second, the younger man realizing he was about to die. The mob boss pushed and let go of Steven, sending the mob soldier tumbling backwards out of the window.

His shouts filled the night air for the few seconds it took him to hit the ground with a sickening squishing sound when he landed.

Mason pulled the window shut and straightened his blazer jacket. He muttered in disgust as he turned towards the door, "If you want someone dead, do it yourself."

He flicked the light switch off then slipped out the door without a second thought.

Beck Oliver Apartment  
Sunday, June 25

The time was seven 'til nine in the morning as Freddie lightly rapped his knuckles on the door.

He only waited about a minute or so before the door opened to reveal a blonde with bed-hair flying every which way and wearing a short robe and from how lazily it was worn and tied, there was a strong possibility that she wasn't wearing anything underneath it. She smacked her lips and rubbed one off her eyes with a fist in an attempt to get the sleepiness out of it.

Freddie's brow slightly knotted and whispered in mild disbelief, "Melanie?"

The name seemed to instantly wake up the girl and rapidly blinked to clear her vision. She impatiently asked, "No, I'm her sister Sam. Who are you?"

Freddie cleared his throat and nervously answered, "Sam? Ah, it's nice to finally meet you—"

The blonde's voice became a little harsher as she asked, "_Who are you?_"

He smiled and offered his hand, "Oh, sorry, I'm Freddie Benson."

Sam glanced up and down at the reporter, ignoring his hand and snorted with mild disgust, "Freddie Benson? That's how you know Melanie; you're the guy that broke my sister's heart."

Freddie slipped on a slight frown, but kept his gaze on the blonde. "It wasn't my intention to hurt Melanie. I love her, but I just didn't return her feelings."

The blonde straightened up her robe and tightened the belt around her waist before taking a step forward to look up straight into his eyes. "Well maybe my intention is to hurt you?"

He quickly put on an impassive expression, knowing if he put on his usual meek expression she might take it as an opening to strike him from his knowledge of the young lady from her identical twin. Besides having no real desire to be hit, if she did take a swing on her from her bullying tendencies, things could get really complicated in trying to explain how she hurt herself striking him.

However, he was saved when Beck smoothly approached Sam from behind and wrapped his arms around her abdomen and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Sam, I don't think that's fair. We all have feelings for someone at some point and they may not return the feelings, but that doesn't mean they're a bad guy, besides is that anyway to speak to the guy that saved Jade's life last night?"

Freddie nervously laughed, "I think it was a little bit of both."

Sam looked over her shoulder to give Beck an 'Are you kidding me?' expression. "Saved her life? He hung on her all night long then tried to be all manly in trying to protect her from one of Steven's guys, but fell flat on his butt."

The reporter slightly frowned at hearing her mocking voice that sounded to him like various kids in high school that attempted to bully him. However, he turned it by softly retorting, "Like I said, it was a little bit of both and I was doing that because I was sent to do a piece on her for the Daily Planet."

"But I'd like the thank you for standing in front of a bullet for her," Beck politely remarked with an easy going smile. "Thank you."

The reported gave a half smile and politely nodded, "You're welcome."

"So what brings you by?"

"I'd like to get a quick statement from you if it's possible about last night and about the news this morning."

Sam rolled her eyes and sighed out in mild disgust before slipping out of Beck's arms to head back inside of the apartment.

"I was wondering when someone would want to interview about what had happened. We managed to dodge the Gotham Gazette last night, but I guess we couldn't dodge forever. It's okay though since you work for Jade."

"Well I'm here for a different reason than for them. I wanted your statement about the news after fundraiser… about some things you may not know about. May I come inside?"

Beck happily answered and motioned inside with a hand, "Of course. Would you like some coffee?"

Freddie took off his navy blue fedora, stepped inside and politely answered, "Thank you."

The onetime inspiring actor laughed as he led Freddie to the kitchen, "We haven't turned on any news this morning, so what have we missed?"

Freddie casually answered as he tried to ignore the quite unwelcoming expression from Sam as she poured herself a cup of coffee, "It broke pretty late last night—really very early morning, but someone tried to kill Steven Carson last night after killing a few gentlemen that worked for him—"

Beck turned in place, put on an even expression and calmly answered, "You'll pardon me if I don't shed any tears over it since he did threaten a few of my friends."

"I'm not all that torn up about it either because they chose to get into crime, but I thought I'd get your statement on the fact that he's said that you're the one that tried to kill him… as 'The Joker', the one that's been stealing from the Mob's gambling and drinking halls. He's trying to implicate you in trying to cut a deal with the D.A. or he was…"

Freddie noticed from the corner of his eye that Sam didn't even so much as blink at the accusation as she poured another cup of coffee then handed it to Beck.

The longer haired young man took a quick sip of his coffee then threw a grateful smile to the blonde before he casually remarked as if they were discussing the weather, "I'm 'The Joker'? I tried to kill him last night? Do I even have to bother making a denial of such a thing?"

"I don't know you well enough to make a judgment either way, but I'm betting readers would like to hear what you have to say."

Beck continued to smile as he played along, "Then for the record, it's a pretty easy denial for me. I'm not a criminal—though killing him I wouldn't think would be much of a crime—and Sam and I stayed here all night long. It was kind of traumatic experience for us."

"I would think so, you did have to kill a man last night."

He slightly frowned, losing some of that pretty boy façade. "Which was completely justified."

"I agree, I was just pointing out that justified ones can still be traumatic. My late-father fought in the Great War and I don't think he ever found really peace with what he had to do."

Beck nodded in understanding then turned to pour Freddie a cup of coffee as Sam appeared to have no intention of doing so after handing him a cup then taking seat at a small dining table in the kitchen.

As he was handing the cup to Freddie, the blonde asked in a short tone, "What do you mean he was?"

"Excuse me?"

The lovely blonde continued to look at him with an irritated expression and asked in a slow manner, "I said 'What do you mean Steven _was_ trying to cut a deal?'"

Freddie cleared his throat and tried to answer with at least some respect for the dead, "Steven is dead… they're calling it a suicide after he jumped out of his hospital window real early this morning."

Beck looked flabbergasted towards the reporter as he uttered, "Suicide?"

Sam paused at the news of hearing of Steven's death and slowly sat her mug down on the table.

"Yes, but of course there are plenty of people that don't believe such a thing. I was hoping to speak with the D.A. to get his statement before his office released an official one, but I'd thought I'd speak to you first since you're the one Steven accused."

Beck casually walked to the table to have a seat next to Sam and replied, "You can count me as one that doesn't believe Steven would kill himself. I've known him too long. If he was cutting some deal with Robbie then he'd have all the incentive to live."

Freddie quickly sipped a bit of his coffee then took a seat across from the couple at the table and asked, "Then do you have someone in mind that would kill him?"

The taller young man shrugged a shoulder and remarked as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, "Easy, this Joker guy—the real one, whoever he is—came back and finished the job."

The reporter nodded along. "It's obvious of course assuming he wasn't the Joker all along since his guys robbed the fundraiser in the same getup as reported how the Joker and his crew robbed the gambling halls."

Beck nodded along and remarked, "I hadn't really thought about it that way. I guess being seriously accused of being a gangster will make you overlook the obvious."

"True, but that leaves the question of who tried to kill him the first time and who actually succeeded the second time if he did make up the Joker story from whole cloth."

Sam idly suggested, "Maybe it was that bat-chick all the crooks on the streets are afraid of?"

Freddie adjusted his glasses and knotted his brow as he asked with a blatantly confused voice, "'Bat-chick?'"

Beck quickly covered, "She means 'The Bat'. The boogieman to the thugs on the streets."

"That's an interesting way to describe 'The Bat'. Why do you think 'it' is a woman?"

Sam snapped back in an instant, "Why do you assume it's a man?"

Freddie softly laughed and quickly conceded the point, "You're right. Assuming a sex either way is just speculation, but there's no evidence that 'The Bat' has killed anyone, just left some street thugs beaten up for the police."

Beck raised his mug and added with a soft smirk, "But you can't say what could really be going on in a vigilante's mind."

The onetime farm boy raised his mug in acknowledgement before taking another sip. "True, but I hope to try to get into it since while I'm doing a piece on Miss West, I was hoping to do a serious story on 'The Bat' and possibly 'The Joker'."

The longer haired young man remarked, "That might be little tricky if Steven really was the Joker."

"It could be, but I still need to find his partner, the harlequin woman with him."

Sam hissed out in mild disgust, recalling Steven's remark about her, "Don't you mean sidekick?"

"No, they are obviously partners… similar to Bonnie and Clyde. She's still an avenue of investigation to pursue."

The blonde darkly remarked as she leaned forward against the table, inadvertently flashing a bit of her cleavage at the reporter, "You should be careful. She might put a bullet in you."

Beck's conscious mind was too slow to cover his mild shock at the threat she had made to the reporter unbeknownst to Freddie.

Freddie didn't miss a beat and softly retorted with a confident smile, "She just might, so I have to be careful."

Beck quickly changed the subject, not liking at all in the direction Sam had took the conversation, "Did they recover the money from last night?"

The glasses wearing young man turned his gaze back to the leaner young man and offhandedly remarked, "Not yet. Whoever tried to kill Steven the first time took all the money or he hid it somewhere and what is left of his criminal crew has it."

Beck confidently remarked, "I'm sure it'll turn up or his crew's bodies will start turning up. Stealing from dead cops' families… you're just asking for someone to whack you whether it is from other crooks or trigger happy cops."

"Let's hope so—not the bodies turning up part."

The gentlemen shared a quick laugh while Sam rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee.

Freddie finished his coffee then stood up and put his fedora back on his head. "Thank you for the hospitality, but I need to get going. I have to get to morning service then it is a busy day."

Beck stood up and laughed off, "You're welcome. Thank you for letting us know what happened and letting me know what to expect."

"You're welcome."

Freddie looked to Sam and politely nodded his head and whispered, "Sam."

She snorted out dismissively and took another sip of her coffee.

The reporter didn't give it a second thought about her disrespect though he didn't agree with it or appreciate it, he could understand that it was in regards to her feelings for her sister and how she thought he had done Melanie wrong.

Beck called out just as Freddie was reaching the door, "One last thing Freddie—can I call you Freddie?"

Freddie turned and nodded along, "Of course."

"How's Jade? We left before you and since we're just getting up, we haven't had a chance to call to hear how she's doing,"

Sam sat up straight in her seat and looked towards the pair, her interest clearly peaked at hearing him mention his high school ex.

Freddie answered with a boyish smile, "When I left last night she seemed fine. Her hand was a little sore from punching out one of Steven's guys, but I put some ice on it and she seemed fine."

Beck with a bright smile opened the door for Freddie. "I'm relieved to hear. Well, thanks again. I'll see you around."

"Sure, take care," Freddie remarked as he exited the apartment.

The secret mob captain blew out a breath, relieved that he could drop the act even if he enjoyed acting. He turned to head back to the kitchen to start breakfast, but immediately stopped him in his tracks.

Sam had in nearly a blink of an eye took a seat on the edge of the round table and loosened her short robe to loosely hang on her, showing the centerline of her chest down to her navel but covering her crotch. She cocked her head to her right, letting her hair fall behind her and expose her neck while her fingertips trial done her upper chest between her breasts then resting over her silk covered crotch. She whispered in a frothy voice, "Do you want some breakfast?"

Where her hand was resting on her, he clearly understood that she didn't mean that she was going to fix him some food. He didn't know what had gotten into her, but he wasn't going to argue as he quickly walked over to her and knelt between her legs…

District Attorney's Office  
Gotham City

The day may have been Sunday, but Robbie sat back in his office chair, resting the side of his forehead against the palm of his head being braced by his elbow against the armrest. He had been disturbed from his sleep nearly an hour after he finally got to bed after his joyful celebration with the news that his key witness and turned mobster was now a squishy mess on the hospital property or more up-to-date in their morgue. He was working on just an hour of sleep, a few catnaps and plenty of cups of coffee and it was still a very long day ahead of them.

As exhausted as he felt, Detective Vega was just as livid as he paced about the office. He snarled out in frustration, "A damn suicide! If that is the official ruling we won't be able to use anything that he told us. The judge will throw it all out because Mason couldn't confront 'his witness against him' and being unavailable is not his fault _and _all of Carson's so-called records are gone with his apartment and offices conveniently trashed before we could get there…"

Robbie sat up in his chair and calmly remarked, "What Dickers' investigators determine is out of my hands."

Vega stopped in his tracks and snapped, "Even if he was one of the ones Carson implicated. That doesn't scream 'conflict of interests'? I know he tipped off Mason to have Carson's places turned upside down."

"We can't prove such a thing because it was just Steven's word in the first place and that's an assumption on your part."

Vega blew out a frustrated breath and rhetorically asked, "So Mason gets away with it?"

"Can you prove that he or someone on his behalf killed Steven? I could pursue the death penalty for murdering a witness."

The detective turned in place and shook his head. "Of course not. The officers on duty said they alternated leaving their post to get coffee or used the restroom, so at least one was on duty at all time and that would have only giving someone a few minutes to slip inside and throw Carson out the window."

"Do you believe them?"

"Who, the officers? I didn't question them, Gary did."

"Do you trust Gary's judgment?"

Vega let out a soft breath and softly shook his head. "I… I have my doubts."

"Maybe you should question them? Get them to break their stories?"

"He's my partner; I can't openly second guess him or even look like I don't trust his judgment."

Robbie slumped back in his seat while Vega took a seat.

The pair sat in frustrated silence at losing out on their big break. Through the hectic morning with the news of Carson's death and investigation, the D.A. had been able to inform Vega about the material that had dropped in Rex's lap on Mason. It was a break in of itself and a happy one at that, but it was only a place to start a lengthy investigation that could take weeks or even months to unravel Mason's money laundering operation then they would have the trouble of explaining how they originally got the information.

The only fortunate thing about Carson's death was that it was a perfect excuse in delaying informing Mason that they had 'recovered' his stolen property.

As each tried to figure out their next step, an idea struck Robbie and he quickly sat up in his seat and leaned forward. "Hey, maybe we can get that reporter fellow following Jade around? It wouldn't be suspicious at all for him to talk with them."

"Would he be willing to share what he found out with us?"

"If he's investigating it for a story, he'll tell everyone when it goes to print."

The detective nodded along, quickly seeing that it could be a viable plan. "We'd have to let their names slip to him, but how?"

Robbie thought for a moment then got another very bright idea. "How do you feel about lunch at Jade's? I can grab Cat and you can get Tori and it would look like a reunion lunch as kind of a welcome home to Tori. It would look completely innocent and no one could question it."

Detective Vega chuckled, "I could use some lunch."

The D.A. looked to the clock on the wall ticking towards ten then mumbled in return as he stood up, "I could use a nap."

Vega got up from his seat before heading towards the door. "I'll let you get a nap while I go home and suggest the idea to Tori. I'll see you in a few hours Mister Shapiro."

Robbie crashed on his couch in the office and waved, "Thanks."

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a little more setup, but I believe it will be quite worth it for the upcoming ones. Take care and I hope to have a new update for 'iGuess We're Roomies' up very soon.


	7. Quiet Sunday Lunch

I didn't realize it has been almost a month since the last update to this story, but snow days have come in handy for writing. I hope you enjoy it.

mkpunk: Thanks. Freddie should be obvious at this point and I thought the others were having hints to who they could be in the future, but you'll just have to stay tuned. Also stay tuned for who stole from Mason.

Sugar star: I'm glad you enjoy those characters and here is the update.

pbow: You just may get an answer to that in a future chapter. That's some nice speculation in regards to Robbie…

Jeremy Shane: Thanks and here is more.

darck ben: I'll keep you in mind and thanks.

Boris Yeltsin: I would say those are some good guesses.

Challenge King: Thanks and here is the next chapter.

Fanfic-Reader-88: S&C is purposely targeted to a different audience than Victorious and I would say even to iCarly fans that grew up with the show. The lack of quality speaks for itself to the point that recently Jennette more or less the writing was crap. Steven was a dead man walking because he had a lot of people that wanted him dead.

PD31 has updated his 'ShelbyVision' and Illusorygentleman has updated his 'Schneider's Island', so check them out. IG's story is rated M, so it isn't for you kiddies.

Rating: T

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Chapter 6: Quiet Sunday Lunch

West Manor  
Bristol Township, NJ

Sunday, June 25

After the morning service at a local Methodist church, Freddie made his second stop for the day in front of the main doors of West Manor. He lightly tapped the doorbell and less than a minute later, the door opened to the sight of Miss West's faithful butler Erwin Sikowitz. The reporter politely nodded and greeted, "Mister Sikowitz."

The balding butler softly returned the greeting, "Hello Mister Benson. I'm sorry sir, but Miss West is not feeling well this morning—last night's events and all."

A sharp breath past Freddie's nostrils and his concern was evident on his face. He was about to ask further about her condition, but Jade shouted with clear irritation filling her voice from further into the home, "Erwin, let him in!"

Sikowitz deeply frowned with a slight roll of his eyes, but he opened the door for the young man to enter. He motioned towards the reporter to enter then follow him deeper inside the home.

Freddie slightly outpaced the loyal butler and reached the expansive living room with the large L-shaped staircase on his left coming from the entrance with a large fireplace on the right, unused since it was the summer. A couch was facing the fireplace with a large flat screen television to the cattycorner right of the couch.

He frowned when he saw when Jade (in casual wear of a T-shirt and light sweatpants) turned to face him in her seat with her right arm rested in a sling. His voice was laced with concern as he asked, "Miss West? Are you alright?"

She looked up and shook her head before casually remarking, "I'm alright. It turns out that I pulled a muscle in my arm when I was punching oh Mister Clown."

"Shouldn't you have gone to the hospital to be checked out? Called the D.A.? You were actually hurt during the robbery so wouldn't that up the charges against him?"

"I have a personal physician that does make house calls and Robbie has his hands full with Steven's apparent suicide."

The reporter slightly nodded his head to the side and remarked, "Okay, but are you alright?"

She reassuringly smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, Mister Benson, I'm fine."

He put on a relieved smile then continued, "That's good to know and yes I heard about Mister Carson's apparent suicide. I stopped by before church to see Mister Oliver this morning to inform him, just in case he hadn't heard the news."

Jade wore a slightly bashful smile at hearing his genuine relief that she alright, but lovely brow knotted and she hesitantly asked, "You spoke with Beck? Why?"

"I wanted to inform him of his associate's death and that before he died, he had accused him of being 'The Joker'. I wanted to get his reaction to the accusation so he could get his side of the story out."

He immediately noticed her muscles tense in her face and shoulders twitch when linking Beck's name with 'The Joker'. He saw the slight hesitation in her body language while she adjusted in her seat on the comfortable couch and the reaction confused him for a moment.

She glanced away from him and remained silent for a few pregnant seconds, but then quickly put back on a smile and stated in an almost embarrassing tone, "I'm sorry, I'm being rude." She patted a spot beside her while she finished, "Have a seat."

He nodded his head then walked around the back of the couch and had a seat to her left, dropping his fedora on the coffee table between the couch and fireplace. Before he continued his line of thought, he asked, obviously still concerned about her condition, "Did you have a restful night? After everything—including your arm?"

She cracked a smile without realizing it. "It took me a little while to go to bed, but after that I was able to get to sleep. It really didn't bother me since I'm kind of a night owl. How about you?"

"I'm fine. I slept pretty well. It wasn't the first time a gun's been pointed at me, so it didn't shake me to get to sleep."

She cocked her left eyebrow, once where she had a piercing in high school and early college. "Actually it was pointed at me."

He retorted with a slight tease, "But he shot at me."

Her smile started to ebb, recalling how he selflessly threw himself into the situation to defend her, just like her father had with her and her mother all those years ago… She shook herself out of falling into unpleasant memories and stated with a more upbeat tone than she felt, "Yes he did… it was odd that the police couldn't recover the bullet he fired at you."

He cracked a nervous smile and chuckled, "Oh? I guess it was a real dud them."

"Thankfully so."

The pair stared at one another for a few moments, unsure what the next move was in such a situation. Jade wasn't used to someone trying to protect her in such a manner and Freddie wasn't used to someone thanking _him_. As they paused in their conversation, he faintly smelled the same scent he had smelled in the hotel rooms from last night during his little escapade. Her scent was quite enticing too and snared his attention, but he brushed it off because of his professionalism and the comparison as he couldn't accept the similarities.

Freddie cleared his throat and continued, "I read this morning that they caught Steven late last night. The word is that he was shouting to whoever is listening that 'The Bat' rescued him from the Joker trying to kill him…" He hesitantly finished, "…and he's saying that Beck is the Joker. That's why I went to see him."

Jade put on a stern expression and unequivocally stated, "Beck is not the Joker. It was just Steven trying to smear his name as payback for Beck being more successful and that he's Tori's friend. He wanted to try to hurt Tori through Beck."

"I don't understand?"

"Beck works for Mason—"

"He mentioned that last night—"

Jade surprised herself, but didn't let it show at how easily the words rolled off her tongue, "Yes, but Beck is the only honest man that works for him and actually successful at being a legitimate business man. In the end, Steven was just a two-bit criminal that was jealous of Beck's success."

"But how is Miss Vega involved?"

"Years ago when we were in high school, Tori dated Steven, but it turned out he was two timing her with this girl named…" She paused as the name finally hit her, apparently not making the connection earlier and Tori not mentioning anything when she met the reporter. "…Carly Shay. I'm guessing she and your partner are one in the same?"

Freddie tried to hide his embarrassment as he wasn't aware of that story. He awkwardly answered, "I wouldn't know. Carly keeps her family life and past before Metropolis pretty tight lipped. All I know is she has a brother that she keeps in regular contact with and her father is a general in the US Army Air Corps."

Jade suddenly became tight lip, feeling a sudden wave of sympathy for the young man in not having a strong relationship with the person that was suppose to one's partner. "Yeah, so… that's why Steven would say such a thing about Beck."

The reporter nodded his head and casually remarked, "Jealousy and revenge, everyone can get their head around those motivations."

"So are you going to publish a story?"

"After confirming what you told me, yes—it's not that I don't trust what you say ma'am—but I'd like to have two independent sources before I summit any story. I just hope the chief will publish an article explaining why Carson would make such accusations against Mister Oliver."

Jade sternly remarked, "He better if he wants to keep his job."

Freddie raised a surprised eyebrow. "So you would interfere in our paper?"

"I would say I'm being proactive in preventing Beck having a case for libel by accusing him of being a criminal without a shred of proof… and worst… he might see it as a betrayal as we are friends. I don't have to make any apologies to you or justifications."

"Just don't use the Planet as a way to protect your friends and punish your enemies or we wouldn't be any better off being owned by Nevel Pappermen."

She narrowed her gaze and directed a near scowl at him that would have made plenty of males and females cower in fear, but he held his gaze on her. She recognized the look in his eyes, the one of someone completely confident in their beliefs and knowing they were right. She usually saw it with crooked businessmen/women and politicians when they justified their actions in their heads with their own moral code, but in this case Freddie, he was standing on firm moral ground. It was something she saw as admirable and someone that could become a great asset to her in the future.

Jade turned her head towards the television to watch the displaying news and remarked with a quiet voice, "Keep speaking truth to power Mister Benson and you'll go far in the Planet and West Enterprises as a whole."

He suppressed a small smile threatening to form on his face as he heard a hint of admiration in her voice.

The doorbell rang again in the distance and Sikowitz was eager to answer the door while the pair remained sitting quietly together. While Sikowitz went about unobserved to answer the door, Freddie admired the millionaire's profile and felt the odd bubbling of feelings coming up from his stomach that he hadn't experienced since high school… and the first time he met his reporting partner Carly Shay.

His teenage admiration was interrupted when Sikowitz returned and called out, "Miss Valentine, Miss Vega, Detective Vega and Mister Shapiro are here to see you."

The pair on the couch instantly turned their respective heads to look over the top of the backrest of the couch to see the four eagerly heading for the dark brunette, the girls knowing their way around the mason like the back of their hands regardless of not really needing that knowledge to find the living room.

Jade stood up and walked around the end of the couch to meet them with Freddie quick to follow on his feet and stand next to her.

The redhead of the group in a moment put on a worried expression, but Tori was quicker to speak when she saw her friend with her arm in a sling, "Jade—"

Jade held up her good hand, "Don't start Tori. I've had enough babying from Sikowitz and concern from Mister Benson."

The brunette didn't look convinced, but she relented in not making a fuss over the matter.

The mistress of the home continued, "Cat, Robbie, Detective."

The police detective was not so swayed by the millionaire's words to not worry. "Are you sure you're alright? The piece of scum is already facing assault charges against you, but you being injured add to the charges…" He glanced over to Robbie as he finished, "Even if Mister Shapiro has to cut a deal with them…"

Cat and Tori directed disapproving glances at Robbie, but he was quick to defend himself, "I don't like it, but I'm going after the big fish, not the small fries. I want Mason and the rest of the bosses of the crime families. I get them then the Mob is broken in Gotham."

Jade rested her good hand on Robbie's upper arm and reassured him. "I know and it's okay. If you can get them behind bars then you take down the whole Mob and it will be worth a sore shoulder and those punks getting minimum time."

The glasses wearing D.A. smiled his thanks and gratefully replied, "Thanks."

The pale dark brunette glanced around to her unexpected guests and asked, "What is everyone doing here?"

Cat giggled, "We're here for lunch."

Jade knotted her eyebrows, confused at the self-invite, but not necessarily upset.

Sikowitz spoke up, "I received a call from Mister Shapiro to see if you were free for lunch. He thought it was the perfect time for everyone to meet up and celebrate Tori's visit. I told him you were available and here they are."

Jade softly prodded with her question, "But I wasn't well enough for Mister Benson's company?"

Sikowitz licked his lips and retorted, "He's a reporter and I was concern that he could upset you. You need to relax, not having to worry about watching every word that he could twist around and print. Tension would not be good for the muscles."

"I'm offended Mister Sikowitz of you questioning my professional ethics."

The butler lazily remarked, "I'm sorry Mister Benson… I wasn't aware that your profession had any."

Jade tired to hush him with a curt and soft tone, "Sikowitz."

Freddie surprised them all by letting out a soft laugh, "It's alright Miss West. I can completely understand the attitude. I've met plenty of people like that in my profession that Mister Sikowitz would be describing to a T." He glanced around to the others and politely continued, "Since this is obviously a private gathering, I think I'll head on out. I'll call your office tomorrow to see when you're available."

Tori quickly spoke up, giving the young man a flirtatious smile, "We didn't mean to interrupt your lunch."

Cat quickly leant her support with a quick clap of her hands, "Yeah, the more the merrier."

The detective spoke up, "The girls are right Mister Benson. You have your story to research on Miss West and we wouldn't want to interfere with your livelihood."

Robbie eagerly nodded along, "Absolutely. We don't want to run you off."

Jade slightly narrowed her sight on the D.A. and detective. She understood why Cat and Tori insisted on him staying since the redhead was just friendly in that manner while she had noticed last night that Tori was being a little flirtatious with the reporter, but she curious as to why they would want the young reporter to stay.

"They're right Mister Benson. We were going to have lunch, so we're having lunch."

He easily relented and answered, "Okay ma'am."

Sikowitz spoke up before she could question why, "I can go ahead and escort you to the dining room. I set working on lunch as soon as we hung up." He motioned an arm toward one of the doors at the end of the living room. "Right his way."

Jade suppressed a frown at Sikowitz for allowing such a stunt to be pulled. It wasn't that she was adverse at seeing her friends, but she had business with Freddie that she was hoping to attend. She was distracted from her mild annoyance with Cat happily taking her good arm and walking with her to the dining room.

Jade took a seat at the end of the long table while Tori took a seat on her right cattycorner followed by Detective Vega and Freddie while Cat sat at the millionaire's left cattycorner then Robbie.

Sikowitz quickly rushed back and forth from the kitchen to sit out their respective meals, tailored to each of them, and drinks. However, he was missing a plate for Mister Benson, leaving the reporter to oddly look around, not sure what was the proper etiquette for such a situation.

Jade looked to her butler with a curious and somewhat disapproving glance.

He didn't need to be a genius to figure out why she was giving him such a look. "I was expecting him to respect you needing your rest and simply meet with you tomorrow."

Jade closed her eyes and let out a slow breath through her nose before calmly instructing him, "Erwin, please prepare Mister Benson a plate as quickly as possible."

"Yes ma'am."

Tori looked past her father to graciously offer to the reporter, "You can have some of mine while we wait."

He lifted a hand and politely answered, "Thank you, but no. I couldn't deprive you of any of your lunch. I can simply wait."

The actress looked slightly disappointed that he declined, but at the same time was impressed with his chivalric choice.

Cat looked across the table and eagerly asked, "So you're here to do a story on Jade?"

"Yes, I was here for lunch for an informal interview. I know Miss West is a very busy woman with West Enterprises and all."

Tori softly teased, "Actually André handles the day-to-day stuff. I'm not sure what she does all day. He still does that right?"

Jade nodded. "Yes Tori, André still manages the day-to-day stuff, but I keep quite busy."

The brunette and former rival playfully teased, "Being a philanthropist and socialite must be so much hard work."

Jade rolled her eyes while the redhead continued towards Freddie, "We're sorry for interrupted, but when Robbie suggested that we all go see Jade and catch up with Tori, it seemed like a fantastic idea."

"Don't apologize. I'm not here to intrude on Miss West's life and interrupting your get together."

Tori softly teased as she brought her glass to her lips, "You can intrude in my life."

Her father raised a concerned eyebrow, knowing when his daughter was flirting with a young man, a young man that he really didn't know anything about and was just going to use as a pawn.

Jade apparently saved Tori from any scrutiny from her father and prevented any more flirting for some odd reason that she didn't appreciate by asking Robbie, "So this was your idea?"

"Yeah. We didn't get to catch up last night with Tori being late and the whole getting robbed part."

Cat picked up, "We called Sam and Beck to come, but they wanted a quiet Sunday to themselves after last night."

"Can you blame them after what Steven accused him of before he died?"

Tori raised an eyebrow as she finished a piece of her sushi. "What did he accuse him of?

Cat looked onto the pale millionaire in as much a curious expression.

Jade looked to Cat and Tori then to Robbie and Detective Vega with a curious expression. "You hadn't heard the news? Neither of you told them?"

Detective Vega slightly frowned, not appreciating the young woman trying to scold him like a child, especially since he remembered her as a sixteen year old.

Robbie on the other hand looked slightly embarrassed and explained, "It's been a busy eighteen hours for us. I'm running on about five hours of sleep since the fundraiser."

The millionaire rolled her eyes, accepting her curly haired friend's explanation then continued, "Steven accused Beck of being the Joker, the guy that's been robbing and torching the Mob's speakeasies and gambling halls… and said Beck as the Joker tried to murder him last night."

The redhead blinked and looked to her with a dumbfounded expression then shouted, "How could he say that?!"

Tori spat in mild disgust, "What? He actually accused Beck of doing that?"

"Yes."

The brunette shook her head and muttered, "I hate to speak ill of the dead, even Steven, but that is just insane."

Jade nodded along, but her face showed she was still uncomfortable with the subject. So much so that it looked like she had suddenly lost her appetite, but she ignored the feeling and took another sip of her soup.

Freddie noticed that it looked like she was forcing it down, but remained silent to watch the conversation between friends.

She blew out a deep breath and dismissively remarked, "It's nonsense. I was telling Mister Benson before you arrived of why he would say such a thing."

Tori picked up her glass of tea to hide her embarrassed expression.

"Sorry Tori, but I had to tell him to help stop Steven from trying to ruin Beck's reputation from beyond the grave. Mister Benson is going to write a story explaining why Steven would make up such a thing when it's obvious that he's the Joker."

The brunette actress nodded her head and quickly recovered, "I understand. If you said it was on the news then the commentators must be ripping him to pieces." She looked to Freddie and asked with a hopeful tone, "I hope you write a fair piece about our friend."

He nodded his head and in a kind voice answered, "I intend to." He looked to Robbie and politely asked the D.A., turning away from the obviously embarrassing experience the young actress experienced in high school, "Speaking of Mister Carson, would you like to comment for the record on his apparent suicide, other than your office's press release?"

"The official statement from my office is that the Gotham Police Department is continuing to investigate Steven Carson's untimely death, but all indications at the moment were that it was a suicide."

"How about unofficially?"

"Unofficially, no comment."

Freddie accepted the answer with a polite nod then questioned, "Has there been any discussion about an independent investigation from your office since there was a report that Commissioner Dickers was named by Mister Carson as belonging in Mister Thornesmith's pocket? The man that Carson was accused of attempting to kidnap and murder? I don't mean to imply anything with this statement, but there were plenty of people that had reason to see Mister Carson dead including Mister Thornesmith."

"I cannot even dignify that with a legitimate response."

"I'll take that as a 'no comment'."

Detective Vega saw his opportunity for what he and Robbie had planned and suggested, "We have complete confidence in Commissioner Dickers, though we would freely admit we are biased in favor of him, but I know I speak for Robbie and myself that we would never discourage the press from asking questions or continuing to do their own investigation into what happened. I would say questioning the officers that were assigned as Carson's protection detail would be the first logical choice in trying to get to the truth… if say I was a reporter."

Jade chuckled as she remarked, "That's Detective Vega's way of saying that Robbie wants you to investigate what he can't."

The detective smiled as he brought his glass to his lips. "Now Jade, I never outright said that."

Tori held back a chuckle from her father's coyness while Jade gave him a wink.

Freddie held a guarded expression as he didn't trust the detective as he simply didn't know the man and it was blatant to him that the detective and Robbie just wanted to use him. He remarked in a casual manner, "I wouldn't be beholden to you, but to truth and justice."

Detective Vega chuckled as he sat his glass down, "You sound like an honest reporter."

"I try to be."

Sikowitz finally arrived with the original meal planned for Mister Benson and sat a glass of tea down next to the plate.

Tori finished a morsel and casually asked to Robbie and her father, turning the subject, "Do you have any idea who broke into Mason's place? That's why he ran out of here so fast last night just before the 'fun' started."

The lawyer and cop looked across the table to one another then Robbie offhandedly remarked, "It wouldn't be proper to discuss an ongoing case."

Tori slightly tilted her head down and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay, this is just idle talk among friends…" He glanced over to Freddie.

"Anything I hear while at the table is off the record."

Robbie spared a quick glance to Jade to confirm the reporter's words, which she did with a slight nod of her head, then the D.A. continued, "We're thinking it is the Bat vigilante."

Freddie softly laughed from the detective's left, "The Commissioner last night told me there was no such thing as 'The Bat'. I would actually be foolish to look into such a thing."

"That changed last night on how we caught Carson last night."

Jade questioned in an odd tone, letting her curiosity slip into her voice, "The 'Bat'? Why would you think he broke into Mason's place last night?"

Tori was quick to snap, as if she was offended that 'The Bat' was getting the blame for the crime, "Yeah, why _him_?"

Robbie chuckled before sticking a piece of food in his mouth with his fork, "Ah, well… _she_—"

Cat knotted her and asked in a childlike innocent tone, "The Bat is a she?"

Her boyfriend nodded his head as his mouth was full with a piece of delicious chicken. He quickly took a sip of his drink to wash it down then answered, "That's what Steven told us—why the Commissioner has changed his mind about the existence of the vigilante. He said that 'The Bat' rescued him from… from Beck trying to throw him out a window. He said she had 'Very dark hair, blue eyes and a slim figure with 'a nice rack'."

Robbie blushed in mild embarrassment at realizing he didn't edit Steven's quote in his description of the masked woman.

Cat looked down, kind of embarrassed by her lack of assets with a few odd and end jokes Sam would playfully tease her about when they were roommates in college.

Jade snorted out in mild disgust and rolled her eyes, "She's saving his life from going splat on the pavement and he's ogling her goodies? Oh my God."

Tori quickly spoke up to agree, "He may have been perving on her, but it feels good to know that it's a woman out there kicking some behind."

The redhead shouted in a childlike manner with a raised fist, "Girl power!"

The others were not fazed by this reaction from the botanist, but Freddie raised a curious eyebrow above the rim of his glasses.

Detective Vega politely smiled and offered his opinion, "I have my doubts about such a thing that one woman could do put that much fear into the street thugs or do that much damage to them. I saw what 'The Bat' did to the Triplet twins and I don't see how a woman could do that to them."

Jade pointed out with a soft smirk, "A pair of brass knuckles or something similar would certainly even up the odds even if a woman couldn't necessarily punch as hard as a man and there are plenty of martial arts that teach how a physically weaker opponent can beat stronger one. Cat's right, girl power."

The longer haired brunette smirked in triumph at Jade's point while her father raised an eyebrow, not having considered something so simple for an explanation if 'The Bat' was a woman.

Jade continued with a mild concern in her voice, "What makes you think it was 'The Bat'?"

Detective Vega picked up, "Because she was caught in the act by one of Mister Thornesmith's security guards, but she did a real number on him then escaped. She fits the description of 'The Bat' except for missing a cape and she had a whip."

Tori awkwardly chuckled, "So Mason's bodyguard thought that ey—she had a 'nice rack' too?"

Her father cleared his throat, of course not feeling comfortable talking about a woman's anatomy with his daughter. His wife had 'the talk' with their daughter after all. "That was not part of his description, just having a black, skintight suit."

Jade snorted out thoroughly amused, "A whip and black skintight suit? Sounds like more of a dominatrix than a cat burglar."

Tori frowned and quickly came to the burglar's offense, "Wouldn't a form fitting suit be the practical thing to wear if you were going to burglarize someone if you're female? You wouldn't were a pair of jeans and a T-shirt or anything loose to snag on and leave behind any evidence."

The Vega patriarch raised a curious eyebrow towards his daughter.

She shrugged a shoulder and softly teased him, "I'm a detective's daughter. You don't think I've picked up a thing or two from you over the years?"

He shook his head and turned back to his meal.

Tori turned to look back to Jade and continued, "And you're cheerleading 'The Bat' and she had to wear something similar for Steven to describe her that way and my dad and Robbie think she could, so why are you ragging on her?"

Jade looked to her with an odd expression, thoroughly curious as to why Tori would defend the burglar. "I'm not. I just find it a little funny that she could be mistaken for one. I find her pretty gutsy to rob from the Mob boss of Gotham."

Mister Vega mumbled as he was taking a sip from his drink, "Or stupid."

Tori gave her father a sideward glance and a slight frown.

Jade looked back to Robbie and casually asked, "But let's say for discussion that you're right about this cat-woman and 'The Bat' are one in the same, why would she break into Mason's place? What would she want from him? She's a vigilante fighting criminals, not _a _criminal burglarizing the man for cash or whatever other valuables she could fence."

Detective Vega quickly pointed out, "She's a vigilante, that's what makes her a criminal."

Jade was quick to snap, "By whose standards? The very criminals running the city that happen to hold public office?"

The veteran police detective put on a sour expression as he couldn't really counter the point.

Robbie cleared his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable in trying to answer that question and the unexpected notch in hostility between Jade and Mister Vega. "That I really can't speculate on other than to say it wasn't a simply burglary. She didn't steal money or anything with monetary value."

The millionaire asked in a more curious manner, "Then what?"

Detective Vega continued for the nearly tongue-tied D.A., "Let's just say that what Mason lost cost him far more than anything of monetary value."

Jade curiously questioned but there was a hint of offense in her voice, "What? Personal affects? Family photos? She wouldn't do that. I haven't heard one whisper that 'The Bat' is a criminal herself and robbing people and if it was someone else then why didn't she take anything of value to fence? It's sounding more like a simple burglary and this person a common thief."

Tori hid a small smirk behind the rim of her glass as she took a sip of her tea.

Detective Vega responded with an equally curious voice and without attempting to correct her train of thought in what the burglar may have stolen, "Jade, how can you guess a vigilante's motivations other than taking the law into her own hands? If she's willing to ignore one law, what is stopping her from ignoring others like someone's property rights?"

"Motive, the one thing that separates vigilantes from other criminals. Why do vigilantes take the law into their own hands?"

The detective began to answer, but Jade continued, "Because they believe that the law can't or won't bring them justice. The system's broken Mister Vega, so what is one supposed to do, just give into despair and accept their fate? Haven't there been plenty of people in this city that has done that already?"

"What? You expect one person, some hero to come riding in on a horse like the Lone Ranger or like some… dark knight to save the people?"

Jade softly shook her head and began with a regretful voice, but steadily grew stronger and more confident, "No, what I see is… I see someone trying to show the people of Gotham that the city doesn't belong to the criminals and the corrupt… people need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and this… this 'Bat' is doing such a thing. A person is just flesh and blood and can be ignored or destroyed, but a symbol… as a symbol she can become incorruptible, everlasting… that's what they are beginning to see… that's what the criminals are beginning to see."

The detective embarrassingly looked down at his plate and remarked in a regretful tone, "I think that's a little naïve Jade. I think you might have too much faith in people."

Jade frowned in turn, his words pricking at her heart as she never much had faith in people. Other than a handful of people, most of them being in the room, people had failed her and she didn't want to admit he could be right, but a soft voice called out that stopped her from looking in that dark place in her heart…

"I don't think it is naïve Miss West."

She looked up from her soup to see Freddie's warm and supportive smile while everyone else turned to look at him, giving him various levels of curious expressions.

He continued in quiet confidence, "This Bat may be trying to point the people back to an ideal they've stopped trying to achieve because they thought it was impossible with the corruption and darkness of the city: living happy, peaceful lives and raising their families without worrying that around every corner there is someone going to take their property or their lives, be it a crook in a clown mask and a gun or a well dressed businessman or politician taking everything they have with a smile on his or her face. My late father told me that ideals are something we should strive towards… that we'll race behind and we'll stumble at times and even fall, but in time… we can be more than we think we can be and maybe this dark knight… this… _dark dame_ can lead… raise the people into the light and out of the darkness that has fallen upon this city."

The others looked to him with dumbfounded, unsure what to make of the visitor from Metropolis.

He whispered as he looked back down to his meal and tried to cover his face by taking a sip of his tea, "That's just my two cents."

Jade cracked a soft smile, allowing a little of her inner emotions shine through with a soft prickle to the back of her eyes and whispered while she lifted up her glass. "I think they were a valuable two cents."

Tori raised her glass and happily remarked, "I'll toast to that."

Jade sat her glass down then softly teased the group in a light hearted tone, "Okay, enough business talk. The excuse for everyone to come over here and eat all my expensive food was for us to be happy Tori's back in town, so why don't you catch us up on what's been going on with you and not what the tabloids have been saying. Any serious potential Mister Tori Vegas on the horizon?"

Cat giggled and clapped her hands, eager to hear any juicy details from her friend.

Detective Vega raised an eyebrow at that question, obviously concerned about any potential suitors for his daughter.

Tori took her napkin and delicately wiped her lips off before softly countering with a quick glance to Freddie, "Any potential Mister Jade Wests?"

Jade cocked her once pierced eyebrow.

The brunette let out a triumphed laugh at getting under her friend's skin then continued, "Okay, okay, there's been a few that've shown interest, but I've been keeping it strictly professional. Most sound like they just want a Hollywood hook up…"

After another half hour of catching up including her current film in NYC and enjoying each other's company, the guests were on their way out. Detective Vega and Robbie were waiting just outside the door as the girls were bidding farewell to their friend. Cat carefully hugged one of her best friends and whispered, "You get better."

She patted her shorter friend on the back and answered, "I will."

Tori followed up as Cat pulled away from Jade, "You better because I want us to go out tomorrow. You can visit the set then go out. Maybe I can convince you to try out acting again."

The millionaire rolled her eyes and blew out a slightly annoyed breath. "Fine, we'll go out tomorrow and be part of your entourage."

The girls waved back as they exited the mason and Jade closed the door behind them. She immediately turned to Freddie and started to apologize, "I'm sorry our lunch got interrupted and—"

He gave her a look that stopped her midway through and suggested he slightly doubted her sincerity.

"No, I really am. I may not like the idea behind the piece, but I'm not blaming you or trying to make your life difficult over the matter and… thank you for the support you gave me. I didn't think the apathy… the hopeless had seeped into the people close to me. I guess you have the advantage of living in Metropolis where everything is sunshine and rainbows."

He snorted out a laugh and softly shook his head. "I wish that was the case, but it isn't. Metropolis likes to make out to the rest of the world that we are the 'city of tomorrow' and we've left behind all the problems other cities face, but ours are done in the dead of night and under the cover of darkness than out in the open."

Jade nodded her head then softly replied, "I see… I guess you'll have to tell me about it some time, fill me on how Metropolis really operates."

"I will and you're welcome for the support and it but this was actually better than a lunch for two…" He suddenly trailed off at hearing his own words, but giving a different impression than one he was trying to convey. "I mean having lunch with a beautiful young woman like yourself ma'am would be…"

He shut his mouth and slightly blushed, looking away as he felt he was just digging the hole deeper.

"I'm flattered Mister Benson, but I'm sorry for the interruption."

He gathered some courage and continued, "It's okay. Really it is ma'am. Seeing you interact with your friends was far more eye opening than just tentatively asking you questions. It was an enjoyable lunch and you really do have some nice friends."

"I'm very blessed to have them. I wasn't the easiest to get along with in high school, especially with Tori for most of it."

He chuckled, "That sounds like an interesting story to hear at another time, but I must be going. I don't want to take up anymore of your Sunday."

She gave him a half smile and replied, "So where are you heading? Off to write your story?"

"Actually I was going to take Mister Shapiro and Detective Vega's suggestion to go speak with those officers that were assigned to protect Mister Carson. Maybe I can get to the truth and prove it was a murder." He shrugged a shoulder and bashfully remarked, "Maybe even link it to one of the Mob bosses and bring some heat down on them."

"Ambitious… and maybe just a little foolish as trying to go after the Joker and his partner."

"Maybe, but I do believe in truth and justice…"

She teased, "And the American way?"

"You could say that… my late father was a patriot and he did instill those values in me."

She gave a soft nod then leaned her head to the side and stated, "If you don't mind, I'd like to go with you on your investigation."

He reached up and adjusted his glasses on his face and croaked out, "Go with me?"

She remarked with a cocked eyebrow. "Yes, I'm curious as to the true fate of the man that robbed the fundraiser. It is personal for me… I'm not apathetic to what's happening around me and you could use me."

He looked to her in a slightly frightened expression. "Use you ma'am?"

She gave him a sly, seductive expression. "I'm rich and I have a pretty face… and a few other nice things. Men open plenty of doors for me without even realizing who I am."

He thought about it for a moment then remarked, "That could come in handy. You'd be amazed how many people would talk to my partner Carly before they would talk to me."

She lifted the corners of her mouth in a closed lip smile. "Give me a few minutes to freshen up and change." She turned from him and headed towards the stairs to her left.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this last setup chapter, because the action definitely picks up in the next one that I'm hoping to publish by Saturday. Take care, OneHorseShay.


	8. Everybody is Lying Maybe

Hello my dear readers. I hope everyone is doing alright. I got some writing done, so a new chapter for you.

pbow: Rogue Villain's Gallery becomes tougher when they are your friends. Jade and Freddie investigating… isn't that suppose to be Freddie and Carly's job?

Agent-M-0167: Trina doesn't seem to be anywhere does she? Others' futures? You'll just have to read.

From my other stories, you know I'm obsessed with time to the point where I give the day and exact date, but this… I'm leaving it timeless as Burton did in his first two films, Batman: The Animated Series and this chapter will continue to feed into the Anachronism of the time period.

Mkpunk: Thanks. I'm not sure how clearer I can get with the identities at this point without coming out and saying it. You'll just have to keep reading to figure out the answers, but I've left plenty of clues.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Cops don't like vigilantes, especially ones doing a better job than them plus there is a little sexism in this world. It's part of the mixture of the times.

Jade jealous and feeling threatened by Tori? When has that ever happened? Oh wait…

Challenge King: I think it is their friendships that will define this story differently than other interpretations of Batman. To Batman, they would just be criminals to take down and send to Arkham, but what if they were his or in this case, her friends? Black and white morality blurs.

Okay, on with the story. I don't recall any updates from others since then to plug.

Rating: T Language

* * *

Chapter 7

West Manor

A few minutes short of a half hour after her friends had left after lunch, Jade returned from her master (mistress) bedroom and bath to meet up with Freddie, but he wasn't waiting for her in the living room. She was curious about his absence, but she only needed a moment or two to search the first floor to find the reporter and Sikowitz standing side by side at the kitchen sink washing the plates from lunch. She called out in mild shock, "Mister Benson, why are you washing dishes?"

The young reporter chuckled before turning then called out while turning to face her, but not seeing the millionaire yet as he spoke, "I'm actually rinsing and drying ma'am…" He trailed off as he looked at the lovely business woman, still letting her arm rest in a sling.

She wore a white dress shirt with a few buttons undone from the top that allowed just a hint of her cleavage to show, a woman's black blazer jacket and a matching back skirt that didn't quite reach halfway down her pale thighs. On another woman it may have looked to provocative, but on her, she wore it with style and grace and a certain level of elegance on such a practical outfit.

He cleared his throat at seeing how attractive she looked in such attire and hoped he didn't look like a high schooler gawking at the new girl coming to the school. The seconds ticked by until he realized his appearance and quickly grabbed one of the hand towels to dry his hands then started rolling down one of his sleeves to button up his cuffs.

The butler explained, "He was helping me with the dishes Madam Jade."

Freddie awkwardly shrugged as he started on the other sleeve. "I'm not used to not washing my dish unless I'm at a restaurant and I thought I'd help Mister Sikowitz as I didn't see any of the other staff around."

Jade gave a tiny nod to the explanation then answered, "That was very considerate of you Mister Benson since the staff is off on Sundays…" She turned to look at Sikowitz and finished remarking, "…isn't it Erwin?"

The butler put on a tight smile, trying to cover some of his embarrassment of trying to brush Mister Benson away while the reporter was considerate in helping him. He acknowledged, "Yes ma'am it is."

The dark haired brunette continued, "Well if you're ready to go, we can head down to the garage."

Sikowitz quickly spoke up as he pulled his hands out of the dish water, "Let me get my jacket Madam Jade—"

Jade raised her left hand. "You don't have to drive. I'm sure Mister Benson is quite capable of driving one of my cars."

The butler looked a little appalled that the young woman would entrust the reporter to drive one of her vehicles, especially with her in said vehicle. "Are you sure? It would only take me a mome—"

She innocently answered with an easy going smile, "It's fine Erwin. Besides, you have all these dishes to take care of after our added guests to lunch."

Sikowitz's mouth threatened to form into a frown, clearly getting the message that him staying was partially out of some minor payback for trying to brush Freddie away for the day while surprising her at the last minute with her friends visiting. He grinned instead and answered, "Yes ma'am. Everything will be tidy and back in place by the time you return."

Jade wrinkled her nose as she flashed him a bright smile. "Thank you Erwin."

She turned and headed for the garage. "This way to the garage Mister Benson."

He pulled his jacket off the back of a chair and his fedora off the table before dropping a step behind her.

The trip through the large mason was surprisingly short before Jade opened a door and stepped inside. She immediately turned to her right and reached for one of the hanging keys then turned to head further into the garage.

Freddie stopped when he saw the expansive garage with a number of different vehicles, including a motorcycle or two. There was one thing that stood out for all of them: they were various shades of black. Her clicking heels across the polished floor as she made her way down one of the rows of vehicles snapped him out of his mild stupor. He tried to quickly catch up with her in a dignified manner.

She stopped in front of a sleek black car, a Murciélago LP640, and ran a fingertip across the side of the passenger door before grabbing the handle to open the horizontally hinged door.

He uttered in mild shock, "You have one of those space age cars." He of course was referring to the radical departure in car design inspired by the rapid technology advancements, particularly those coming out of Metropolis, and away from the bulky linear block type of vehicles as say the Buicks Century, Cadillac V-16 and Mercedes-Benz W31, that the average public and upper echelon of society used.

She softly laughed, "Several actually."

"And all in black…"

She smiled to him in return and teased in a sultry voice, "I like black and I like speed."

"I thought you looked lovely in blue."

She stopped before slipping into her seat to meet his innocent gaze. She answered in a guarded tone, "Thank you." She dropped in her seat and turned in such a way to keep her modesty in the skirt then pulled the door down closed to shield her face from what would been an easily seen blush on her pale cheeks.

He cleared his throat and needlessly adjusted his glasses on his face, somewhat embarrassed from being so forward with the young woman. He didn't understand where all this bravery was originating to be able to say what he was thinking as he was never able to do so with Carly. A passing thought was perhaps it was because he'd only be around her for a few days and he wouldn't have to maintain the bumbling façade.

He brushed those thoughts aside and walked around to driver's side door and opened it, just avoiding it popping him in the face. He took off his hat and awkwardly leaned around the odd door then slipped into the driver's seat and dropped his hat in his lap. He pulled the door down shut then immediately looked around in the interior, particularly the instrument panel while Jade pulled her seatbelt over her shoulder and across her chest. He felt like a fighter pilot strapped into an experimental airplane or one of those developing space planes.

She smiled at the almost childlike wonder of the young reporter as he tried to take in the futuristic car. "Not something you would see on a farm is it?"

He chuckled, "No. More and more of them are on the streets of Metropolis, but I've never been behind the wheel of one except when I had to cover a car show at the end of last year."

"Well it's just like any other car." She lifted up the keys to dangle them in front of him to take and finished, "You put your seatbelt on and turn the ignition."

He laughed like a child, "Right. Seatbelt then ignition, safety first." He pulled the seatbelt over his chest to lock it then took the keys from her dainty fingers and stuck the key into the ignition.

She kindly offered, "I can hold your hat."

He softly laughed, "Oh, ah thank you ma'am."

He handed her his hat and she rested it in her cross-legged lap. He quickly adverted his eyes from looking at the side of her thighs as her skirt rode up a little from sitting and crossing her legs.

She teased, "You can drive a stick shift? Right?"

"No different than a tracker back home."

"She certainly doesn't drive like one, I assure you."

He felt a little liberated and returning a small smile at her statement then easily pressed on the accelerator and the vehicle slowly pulled out of the parking spot.

Gotham City Police Department Headquarters

Jade and Freddie stood side by side as they patiently waited outside a locker-room on the first floor the police headquarters for two particular officers. The drive was particularly pleasant and Freddie had managed to drive it from the township back to the city and to police headquarters without wrecking the vehicle. On the back roads between the manor and the city, he actually got to try out the speed and it was a somewhat thrilling experience. He found he whether enjoyed driving the high performance vehicle and the lovely lady sitting to his right was quite a nice addition to the ride.

A few officers exiting the locker-room to go on their respective shifts gave the pair a curious expression of why they were allowed to wait this far into the station, well they looked to Freddie in curiosity while checking out Jade even if some of them were old enough to be her father. However, no one bothered to ask the pair as they noticed each was wearing visitor passes.

Another minute or so, two plain dressed officers that matched the description of the officers that the pair was patiently waiting to see exited the locker room. Freddie politely asked one of the older officers, "Excuse me, are you Officer Carl?"

The older bald gentleman stopped and gave a light scowl to the young reporter, clearly annoyed with having to be bothered before getting off his extended shift, "Yes, I'm Officer Carl."

The younger man, but not by much with a full head of dark hair, smirked and introduced himself, "And I'm Officer Kelvin… Miss West?" He paused and asked as he recognized the very lovely woman standing next to the reporter.

Officer Carl straightened up and put on a friendlier and more welcoming disposition. He was smart enough of show respect for power and money plus there was the little appreciation for her efforts in raising money for officers' families.

She directed a sweet smile at the officer. "Yes I am."

Kelvin nearly fell over himself as he extended his hand then withdrew it to off his left hand and spoke, "It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

She graciously took the hand for a soft handshake

Carl asked, "Are you alright ma'am?"

She looked to her shoulder and remarked, "I just overextended my arm while introducing my fist to one of Steven's thugs."

Officer Kelvin chuckled, "I heard about. You really laid him out. Whoever taught you how to do that, please let me have his number? I have a daughter that's going away for college in a few years and I know it would make me feel better if she knew a few moves."

She politely laughed, "I'll have one of my people pass his name along."

He nodded his thanks and assuming the reason for their visit continued, "Thank you and we'll recover the money from the fundraiser. I can rest assure you ma'am."

The older officer grumbled out, "You can certainly count on it ma'am. Some two-bit punks are not going to rob us blind and get away with it."

Freddie suppressed a slight smirk, hearing the disgust of the officer and wondering how far it would take the officer's actions given a moment of opportunity. Whoever still had the money, the remnants of Carson's guys or the Joker's gang, there could be some question if they would be brought in a paddy wagon or an ambulance.

Jade remarked, "I have every confidence that you'll recover the money, but that isn't why we're here."

Kelvin knotted his brow and glanced to his partner with a curious gaze before looking back at the millionaire and asking, "It isn't?"

"No, Mister Benson here is a reporter from the Daily Planet and wanted to know what you saw last night at the hospital with Steven Carson if it's alright? I wanted to make sure the public heard about your dedication as officers and reassure them that you're doing everything you can to keep the public safe."

The officers glanced to one another, quite weary of speaking with the press.

Jade teased, "If he doesn't, I'll fire him and make sure he never works for another newspaper again."

The quartet shared a laugh, even the gruff Office Carl probably due to the police officers could tell that she was telling the truth. However, the veteran officer pointed out, "Since officially it is an ongoing investigation even though it's pretty open and shut for a suicide, we really can't discuss it with the press."

Freddie offered, "How about off the record until after the official conclusion is released?"

Kelvin pointed out, "It wouldn't be much of a story then after the fact."

"The public enjoys first hand juicy details, not dry clinical reports. They always leave out something."

The officers still looked weary as they had a healthy skepticism about the truthfulness of reporters.

The Metropolis reporter quickly followed up, "I can assure you that he will not print a word until the official report is released. I'll list you as unnamed sources and I take my journalistic ethics quite seriously in protecting my sources. If I revealed sources, no one would ever talk to me again and my career would be over. I have far more to lose than you if your names got out."

Carl asked in a stern voice, "Off the record for now?"

"Off the record for now."

The younger officer began, "There's not really much to tell. We were the ones on guard duty that night. It beat going out in the humid rain that night. I took a restroom break and a coffee run—"

Carl picked up, as if he was reading from a script, but most likely because he had retold the same story several times to other investigating officers, "While I was reading a magazine just outside the room. I heard a scream from inside Mister Carson's room. Naturally I rushed inside, but I was too late. He had already leapt to his death."

The crew cut haired officer continued, feeling that he had to defend himself from any accusations of dereliction of duty, "We were assigned to guard him, not be a suicide watch. There was no indication he was suicidal, not after hearing that he was cutting a sweetheart deal with the D.A."

Kelvin laughed, "Yeah, and besides, who would have thought a guy with a busted knee like that could have hobbled out of bed and threw himself out a window?"

Freddie casually continued, "So you were outside when it happened? So no one could have slipped into the room and perhaps pushed him out of the window?"

Carl's mouth became a thin line as he narrowed his gaze on the young reporter, obviously taking a little offence that he could have been derelict in his duty, "The only ones in and out of his room after the Commissioner and D.A. left were random nurses going in to check on him. He was alone in the room when he jumped unless a ghost picked him up and tossed him out of the window."

Jade nodded along as she pointed out, "I can see why it would be open and shut case for suicide: Mister Carson was alone in his room with a dedicated veteran officer outside guarding the only way in or out. Thank you for your time. I'm sure both of you want to get home after a very long night and day, so we'll be going. Have a nice day."

She looped her left arm around Freddie's right arm and slightly pulled on him to turn away from the officers. She was surprised for a moment that she couldn't even get him to budge by her leverage alone, but he quickly turned and walked with her.

Kelvin raised a hand as he called out behind her, "You have a nice day too ma'am."

As the pair was making their way towards the main entrance of the police station, Freddie softly complained, "I had a few more questions for him—"

"Which wasn't going to do you any good. I could see the stubbornness in his eyes. He'd just answer any follow up questions with repeating his story. There are not details to tease out the simple story to catch him in an inconstancy: he's sitting outside when he heard Steven's scream."

He curiously asked the pale young woman, "So you think it was suicide?"

"Do you?"

"No, I think Kelvin is being honest, but Carl is hiding something. I think he either stepped away or looked the other way to let someone inside."

She readily agreed, but pointed the problem, "So do I, but we don't have any leverage for him to change his story or catch him in a lie."

Freddie pushed open the door for her to exit and she took the lead, but held onto his arm to pull him out with her. Once they were outside, he replied, "Right, so right now we may think it was murder and we have conjecture for the same reason Officer Carl gave: Carson was desperate to stay alive in running then willing to cut a deal with Shapiro. I can't print that unless I get some proof."

She rested her right hand over her left wrist as the pair started down the sidewalk arm-in-arm towards her vehicle and stated, "So our next move is to get some proof, perhaps find a way to disprove Carl's story."

He glanced to her in mild disbelief and asked, "Our next move?"

She teasingly smiled to him in return and stated in a playful manner, "Yes, _our_ next move." She tilted her head ever so slightly down and to her right as she continued, "We just got started and you are driving my car and… I still want to know the truth."

He was still a little surprised that she wanted to tag along in the investigation which naturally started causing him to start questioning her motives. A number of ideas quickly crossed his mind: Was 'The Bat' inspiring her to make a difference? Or was there a more nefarious reason for her support? Was she just as corrupt as the other rich and powerful and just putting up an act and just trying to come along with him and sweep up any missed pieces of evidence that could link one of her own to the murder? Was Carson telling the truth and her friend really the Joker and she was trying to cover up for him?

He hated to be suspicious of the kind woman's motivations, but he wouldn't be much of a reporter if he just blindly accepted someone's word. However, in the meantime… he casually answered when it occurred to him how they could get some potential evidence, "He said the only ones in or out after the Commissioner and your friend left were the nurses randomly checking on him, right?"

"Right, so…"

"We track them down from last night and see if there are any discrepancies in their stories that will give us clues to what really happened or leverage on one of them to tell the truth."

"And for that… we have to head for the hospital to see if they'll give us any of the names of the nurses on duty then track down where they live." She blew out a sigh and remarked in a resigned manner, "This will probably be a long afternoon." She glanced to him and remarked, "I'm glad I have good company."

He slightly blushed at the compliment as he couldn't remember Carly ever really being that supportive of his presence.

Mason Thornesmith Penthouse

Robbie knocked on the front of the door penthouse, accompanied by Detective Vega on his right. A few moments later, a gentleman opened the door and cautiously looked at the pair. He locked eyes with Detective Vega, assuming a possible threat from the well built man.

The D.A. spoke up to diffuse any potential problem, "I'm Robert Shapiro, District Attorney and I'd like to see Mister Thronesmith if he's available."

The obvious bodyguard looked over his shoulder to perhaps another gentleman standing behind him, but being blocked by the door. He whispered something to him then a few seconds later, Mason's voice could be heard calling out, "Let them inside."

The guard opened the door and the pair quickly entered.

Mason got up from his seat, smiled and greeted the young man as he got up from his seat, "Mister Shapiro, Detective Vega, a pleasure to see you."

Robbie smiled and passed a quick glance to see the police commissioner getting up from the couch as apparently watching something on the television and enjoying an afternoon brandy. The D.A. nodded his appreciation and started his somewhat of an apology, "I'm sorry to disturb you on a Sunday afternoon, but I wanted to update you on the investigation of your stolen documents."

The secret mob boss cocked an eyebrow and asked somewhat flabbergasted, "Update me? I didn't realize that you were even apprised of the situation least long involved with it with everything going on with the robbery and Carson's suicide."

Dickers mumbled, "I didn't either." He gave a sharp glance towards Vega and asked, "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

Robbie answered for the detective, "With everything going on with the robbery and Carson's death, it just slipped my mind about it and I have my doubts about the authenticity of it actually being your property. Reason enough not to give you false hope."

Mason asked with a hint of concern, "Authenticity? You found my documents?"

"I found 'documents' that have your name on them."

The graying haired gentleman's confusion deepened as he asked, "I don't understand. You found documents? How did you find them? Who do you have in custody?"

"We don't have anyone in custody."

Mason glanced to the commissioner, the pair sharing in being confused. He patiently looked back to Robbie and asked, "Then how did you recover my property?"

"Someone broke into my apartment late last night or early this morning before I got back from the hospital and they left it on my bed."

Mason gave him an incredulous expression and asked, "They left you my documents after breaking into your home?"

"Yes."

"So you've seen it?

"Yes and that's why it gives me doubts that they belong to you."

The Englishman felt slight relief at the apparent disbelief of Robbie and carried on as if he was in the dark about the whole matter, which wasn't far from the truth. "May I ask why?"

"You said some valuable legal documents were stolen?"

"Yes. Will, birth certificate, all my personal documentation for being a legal permanent resident of the United States and other equally valuable documents."

"But what was left in my home looked like odd forgeries of deeds and proof of owning shares in various businesses in the city that I know you don't have any involvement. I'm just guessing, but it looks like to me someone is trying to frame you for securities fraud and tax evasion."

Mason put on a grim face and whispered out darkly, thinking quickly to bolster Robbie's line of thinking, "It must have been one of Steven's fellows. He tries to have me kidnapped and probably murdered and if that didn't work out he was planning to have me sent to prison."

"That's what I was thinking. You have a criminal conspiracy against you to either see you dead or in prison."

He put on a thankful smile and his little bit of an act thanks to his studying of theater when he was a younger man. "I'm just grateful that we have such an intelligent and keen D.A. in office. The city is quite fortunate to have you to be one of our guardians of justice. May I ask what you'll be doing with the forgeries?"

"For the time being I want to hold them as evidence in any case I can bring against any in Steven's crew for obstruction of justice. It might be leverage in trying to recover your real documents, but I just need to figure out how to link them to the forgeries."

Dickers spoke up and looked to Detective Vega. "Take anyone you need to shake down every professional forger in the city, especially ones with any experience with legal documents. Hell check any person linked to Carson that had any legal experience down to a paralegal. We'll nab them all in one giant conspiracy and deliver them to Mister Shapiro with a nice bow.

Vega nodded his head with a tight smile, annoyed that he was sent on a wild goose chase but had to maintain appearances. "Yes sir. I'll get right on it." He turned to head out of the penthouse.

Robbie spoke up, "I think I'll give Detective Vega a hand. My girlfriend may not like missing that afternoon with her, but the faster we can nab them all the faster we have a chance to really eradicate any attempt for organized crime. Gentlemen, have a nice afternoon."

He turned to follow the police detective out just as Mason called out, "You do the same and thank you for your dedication."

As soon as the pair walked out of the penthouse, Dickers turned to Mason and muttered, "He can't be that stupid."

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but I'm not waiting around to find out." He quickly headed for his private office in his penthouse with Dickers falling in step behind him. The businessman picked up his phone and pressed one of the buttons to the side of the keypad. He only had to wait of few moments for the other person to pick up and started, "Chelsea, emergency business meeting with everyone, and I mean everyone, in an hour."

* * *

The officer and lawyer stepped into the elevator and Vega angrily tapped the button to close the doors then the one to the bottom floor. He looked to his daughter's high school friend and pointed out with an annoyed filled voice, "If you're saying they're fakes then you can't use that as evidence to get a warrant for those companies' documents."

Robbie confidently smirked as he pointed out, "What I tell them and what I tell a judge are two different things."

"You don't know if the judge you're going to isn't on his payroll."

Robbie shook his head and pointed out, "He can't have bought off every single judge, but I'm not going to one of ours. I'm going to a state judge for a warrant under the state's RICO laws."

"That might piss off the state attorney general in stepping on his toes."

"Well that's tough chizz isn't it?"

The detective chuckled and shook his head. The young man had come a long way from being some goofball with a puppet in high school.

Conference Room #3  
Ellsworth Building  
Sunday, June 25

Mason sat in his usual spot at the end of the table as the other two families and top associates from all the families sat around the rest of the table. No one was happy at the table with a few sparing some glances with wary eyes towards Beck sitting at the other end of the table with his constant blonde haired companion standing beside him. She was dressed far more casually than her usual sexy dresses in these meetings in a black leather jacket (which her right hand was stuffed inside), a form fitting shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

The Mob boss ignored their apprehension about their reaction to the rumors of Beck being 'The Joker' and started the meeting with what he saw as the most pressing of matters. "Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for attending this meeting at such short notice. As you may know, we face a serious prob—"

Quincy snapped his interruption while pointing to Beck, "Why is he here?"

Beck was quick to respond with a dark expression, "Why wouldn't I be here?"

"Because you're the Joker."

Sam gave the crime boss a dark look while Beck responded with a laugh, "And why do you believe that chizz? The self serving words of a traitor who didn't like me and who was chirping as a stoolpigeon to the D.A. before he jumped out of a window? He was just trying to implicate everyone he can to either cut a better deal or take down his enemies in the process."

Quincy barked back, "A D.A. that is _your friend_ and who's about to come down on all of us now from what Steven told them and what he has from whoever burglarized Mason's place."

Mason held his tongue of his annoyance that his meeting had been hijacked, especially since the recovered document news had been leaked before he could mention it, but it was better to openly hear out the others' concerns instead of letting them fester and later bite him at the most inconvenient time. The combination of smarts and strength was what got him to the top and it was those attributes that was going to keep him on top.

Mrs. Lee spoke up, "You should kill the curly haired mop top boy right now before he can do anything. After that, no one in his office would dare move against us." She looked to Mason and softly mocked, "We'll do it for you if you don't have the courage to make the decision." Her large, heavyset bodyguard Kawkoo standing behind her eagerly smiled before cracking his knuckles.

Mason wanted to smack her taunting smirk off of her face, but the former inspiring actor sharply retorted before he could say a word, "You're not touching Robbie."

"Why not? We're not afraid of the cops. No one would dare touch us if we show them strength."

"It's not the cops you'd have to worry about, it's me."

Mrs. Lee frowned and challenged, "Oh? And what would you do that I'd have to worry about so much?"

Beck whispered in such a soft and cold voice that it seemed to cause the room to drop a degree or two in the room, "I'll put a bullet through your face."

The oriental crime boss (she was intentionally vague about whether she was Chinese or Japanese) glared at Beck as she quickly realized that he was quite serious. She looked to Mason and attempted to scold him, "Are you going to let him talk to me that way?"

Mason had honed his own acting skills over the years and looked genuinely surprised by her question then mockingly returned to ask, "Oh? You want me to do something? I thought you were the strong one."

Mrs. Lee gritted her teeth and almost literally fumed as she stared at the Englishman.

Mason continued in an almost lazy voice, "If you decide to touch Shapiro, I'm not interfering with whatever Beck decides to do, but I agree that Shapiro is off limits to touch. You'd turn him into a martyr and then everyone would scrutinize us."

"You're willing to let him start a war?"

"There wouldn't be a war because you'd be dead and anyone who would want to avenge your death would quickly be disposed of. There's a reason why he's my number one."

Mrs. Lee's face almost turned red in frustration and anger. She was oh so tempted to tell Kawkoo to go over and rip the Englishman's head off after doing the same to Beck, but she rationally knew such a thing would be impossible with Mason's guards quietly in the background.

"If we're done bickering, we can get to the matter at hand: Steven was a traitor who is doing nothing but trying to divide us when it's clear that he was this 'Joker' all along. That matter is settled and the other matter… his word is meaningless now that we've cleared out all his places where he could have kept his own records and Shapiro may have my personal records that you are all concerned about, but he already believes that they are fabrications."

Quincy interrupted, "However, he now knows which ones are our legitimate businesses and which ones are my front ones—"

Beck confidently smirked as he interrupted, "Which won't be a problem if we go in, trash the offices and make off with the records and say it was industrial espionage. All they have left is the unsustainable word of a dead guy who would rob from dead cops' families and easily made up files. We don't rock any boats by killing a D.A. and we can get back to business as usual—after we reestablish some new front companies."

The crime boss smiled so broadly that it was almost a manic appearance. "I see we had the same idea. That's what I like about you Beck, we're always on the same page and you can anticipate what I'm thinking and… I'd like you to personally take care of this."

"Me?"

"Yes." Mason gave him a fatherly smile and continued in a tone that showed his confidence in the long haired young man.

He glanced around to everyone and politely asked, "Ladies, gentlemen, I'd like to speak with Beck alone please?"

The other two crime bosses glanced to one another along with the other various underlings, before Shawn decides to stand up, signaling for the others to follow his lead. He turned towards the door and started on his way out with the others quickly following suit. Mason called out as they exited, "Thank you gentlemen."

Mrs. Lee and Mister Quincy each looked over their respective shoulders to the head of the three families then exited with the rest then Mason's bodyguards pulled the doors shut.

The crime boss looked to Sam, patiently standing next to Beck. The blonde looked back at him, almost daring him to ask her to leave, but Beck looked up to Sam and politely asked, "Could you give us a few minutes Sam?"

The curly haired blonde looked to her partner in crime with annoyed expression, but relented with a sharp snort then kiss on his cheek. She slowly walked towards the door, passing a quick glance over her shoulder before she opens the door and brushes past one of the bodyguards.

Mason playfully remarked, "She's loyal. A good trait to have in a woman. So, when are you going to finally settle down and marry her?"

"What makes you think we aren't already?"

Mason cocked a surprise eyebrow then chuckled out, "I hope not because I don't have a wedding gift for you."

Beck joined his laughter as the crime boss got up from his seat and walked beside the table until he took a seat on the right corner of the table to Beck. He continued in a fatherly tone, "Beck, you're my number guy and after Steven's betrayal… trust is a commodity in short supply, but I know I have it in you."

"Despite what he said and what everyone else is thinking?"

"The others might be swayed by his… what do you youngsters call it? 'Chizz'? However, I know better and after tonight, they won't have any doubts about your loyalty—doubts I do not share."

Beck stared back at the crime boss and knew he couldn't talk his way out not going, so he did the most logical possible. He stood up and picked up his fedora and wore his charming smile as he eagerly agreed, "Right. Tonight me and the boys will hit Ace Chemicals and the only thing for Robbie will be trashed offices then everything can get back to normal."

Mason smiled as he picked up Beck's deck of cards that rested on the table in front of the young man then dropping them in Beck's fedora. "Don't forget your lucky deck."

The long haired gangster nodded his head then charmingly remarked, "Right?"

As Beck walked to the back exit of the conference room and opened the door to leave, Sam looked over Beck's shoulder to Mason with a weary expression.

The Mob boss smiled politely and raised a hand in farewell. As soon as the door closes, the mob boss turns and walks back to the other end of the table and to a desk in the back of the conference room. He slips into the chair behind the desk and picks up the phone resting near the right edge of the surface. He presses an intercom button as he brings the receiver to his ear and politely asks, "Get me Commissioner Dickers."

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one certainly will be exciting, I hope. Threw in some minor characters in here for those with photographic memory of the shows (or access to the wikias). Can you spot some of the homage from the Batman films in this? When is it alright to invoke the whole stay tuned with the old joke from the '60s series?


	9. Have we met before?

Happy March 1st! I can't believe we're already two months into this year. I hope everyone is doing well and will enjoy this update.

Agent-M-0167: I'm a huge Tim Burton fan and I think his Batman films were quite defining for the mythology of Batman. I hope the twist in the end is acceptable and enjoyable.

pbow: A suicide might not scream, but a person supposedly alone in a room dies, one little discrepancy wouldn't be enough to challenge him quite yet.

Challenge King: Thanks and I hope you enjoy this one.

Fanfic-Reader-88: He may get a rude awakening either way depending on what goes down at Ace Chemicals.

mkpunk: Thanks and there is a little homage to Burton's Batman. I revealed Lucius in the PM, so no real spoilers for other readers who haven't figured it out yet.

Illusorygentlemen and PD31 have both updated their respective stories, 'Schneider's Island' and 'A Place to Call Home', so you should check them out and review, review and review.

Rating: T Violence

* * *

Chapter 8

Gotham Community General

As Jade and Freddie made their way to the front of the hospital after parking in the multilevel garage, the pale young woman asked with a hint of tease in her voice, "So Mister Benson, how do you propose we're going to get the list of nurses on duty from last night? You're going to talk to the head nurse and charm the names out of her?"

He cleared his throat and looked slightly taken aback in a bashful manner. "Charm a nurse? I ah, it wasn't the plan."

"Then how else were you going to get potentially confidential information about a duty roster?"

"Well, I was going to see who was in charge today and flash the press badge. He would of course give me the run around then direct me to the hospital's press agent and on our way out I would talk to a few patients that may remember the nurses on duty from last night, because none are going to talk in the hospital and risk their jobs—even if they were on duty today. We'd track them down from there."

She slightly frowned at hearing the pretty weak plan. She thought going in there and having him sweet talk a nurse with his charming looks and bashful manner might be more productive. She quickly started thinking of another plan which involved faking seeing a doctor for her shoulder after dropping her name as an excuse to be there and talk to some nurses, but as the pair passed through the main entrance of the hospital, Jade glanced up at one of security cameras. She bore a devious smile and muttered, "I have another idea that will have a better shot at working and will save us some time."

He raised a curious eyebrow.

Her smile grew bigger at seeing his confusion.

The young assistant director of the hospital, Shawn Becker, a slim and sandy haired young man, graciously led Jade and Freddie into the security room of the hospital and stated in what he thought was a charming and eager voice, "And this is our state-of-the-art monitoring center for the security of the hospital including digital recording, so I can assure you that we take the safety of the patients and staff extremely seriously. I know you wouldn't regret making another donation to the hospital knowing that your money would be put to good use."

One security guard was sitting in the seat in front of the monitoring station, a young man about the same age as Jade and Freddie with dark hair with a lean frame. On his blue uniform shirt Jade could make out on the nametag the name Braden. The face and name seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place the memory.

The young assistant director knew that he should have called in his boss when the millionaire stopped by for a surprise visit and inquiring about making another sizable donation to the hospital, but he was a little greedy in wanting to get credit if she decided to donate. He wanted to impress the board members of the hospital and possibly move further up the ladder.

As Jade glanced around the various monitors and instruments, she noticed between the monitors a small logo of the manufacturer, WestTech, and it immediately gave her an idea. She politely smiled to the young man a few years older than she and Freddie, trying to reassure him that she was eating out of his hand. "I have no doubt."

The dark haired philanthropist walked over to the station and hopped on the edge of the table and slightly scooted back, crossing her legs just before the security guard could hope to get a peak underneath her skit, but he had a nice consolation prize of looking at the millionaire's lovely legs.

Shawn didn't hesitate to take a look at Jade's legs while Freddie looked on curiously.

She whispered in a seductive voice her rhetorical question, "Braden, isn't it?"

He nodded his head and muttered, "Yes."

"You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"We went to high school together. We had senior history class together and you borrowed my history homework one time and didn't return it."

She bowed her head slightly and let a small blush from on her face as she recalled the memory. "I'm sorry, please forgive me for my… youthful indiscretion."

"That was only like five years ago…" He suddenly shut his mouth and glanced away, still frightened by the memory of the young woman.

She continued in her sweet voice, "Yes it was, but… this system monitors and records everything the camera picks up even if no one is in the room?"

The former classmate nodded his head and answered, thankful for the turn in a potentially job losing conversation and to focus on something else beside his fear and being a little turned on by the scary woman, "Of course. We monitor several cameras at once and even with two people manning the room, we can't always catch everything."

"So in the dead of night where there's not a lot of activity, one person could still do the job and then review the tape later?"

"Yes ma'am."

"So say I wanted to watch what happened early this morning… say between the hours of three and four AM on the sixth floor, the system could show me?"

He looked up straight into the philanthropist's cleavage from a few of her buttons undone of her dress shirt and since she had her hands gripped around the edge of the desk on either side of her hips for stability as she leaned over to whisper in what was becoming a private conversation, her biceps pushed on the sides of her breasts together to create some eye focusing deep cleavage.

The security guard nodded with his answer just preventing himself from being tongue tied, "Yes ma'am."

She kept her stare on him, a little sexy tease one but one he could see that struck fear into him during their high school years. He realized that she wanted him to show him such film. He quickly turned to his keyboard to bring up the video from the time and location without bothering to get his boss' permission.

However, the monitor showed a blue screen with large white letters displaying: NO DATA FOR THIS SPECIFIC TIME.

The security guard's eyes widened in fear and a feeling of potential embarrassment washed over him in front of the lovely and powerful young woman. He hurriedly stated, "I don't understand. Give me a moment ma'am." He quickly started typing on the keyboard, desperate to find out what went wrong and save him from embarrassment in front of the millionaire and his boss.

He fruitlessly typed away for nearly a minute, desperately trying to find the missing video all the while his boss bore angry eyes into the back of his head. Braden started mumbling, the pressure obviously getting to him, "I don't understand where the missing video could be ma'am."

She reassuringly smiled to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. You're not responsible for what your colleagues do or don't do on their time. Thank you for showing me the system."

He blew out a relieved breath, "You're welcome ma'am."

The assistant the director was not as forgiving as he looked to the security guard with a cold stare. However, the assistant put on a diplomatic smile and continued as Jade pushed off the edge of the built-in desk and back to her feet, "I'm sorry Miss West. I hope this hasn't made you lose in confidence in our commitment to security. I intend to personally get to the bottom of thi—"

She quickly interrupted him, "Of course not, if I am to be upset with anyone it would be with my own people for allowing such a faulty product to be obtained by the hospital. I'll have my people investigate what went wrong and replace any or all the unit if necessary—free of charge of course. However, I must be going. My shoulder is starting to bother me and I should be heading home. It was a long night for me after all. I hope to see _you_ later next week so we can continue our talk about my additional donation to the hospital."

The young man's face lit up as if you had taken him into a candy store and he eagerly replied, "Of course ma'am. Thank you ma'am. I look forward to seeing you."

She pushed off the edge of the desk and stood up before nodding farewell and walked to Freddie. She looped her good arm around his arm again then turned towards the exit of the security room. Freddie politely opened the door for her as she called out over her shoulder, "I'll see myself out."

The moment the door closed behind the powerful woman, Shawn turned to the security guard and demanded, "Find out what went wrong _right now!_"

As they stepped onto the elevator, Freddie started in a disappointing tone, "Well that was a dead en—"

He was quickly silence when she pulled her arm out from around his arm and raised her good hand and placed her fingertips over his mouth, drawing the curious expression from the reporter. She dropped her hand then reached into one of her blazer pockets. She unlocked her wireless phone and tapped a button on her speed dial.

She waited a few moments for the other end to pick up and as soon as she heard it, she spoke, "André? Jade, I need you to access a WestTech video security system at Gotham Community General."

He groggily answered on the other end of the line, _"What?"_

"Wake up, this is important!"

Her piecing voice cut through the haze of waking up, but still started to complain, _"I've been up all night trying to figure out a way to upgrade your sui—"_

Jade shot a concerned expression to Freddie, fearing that he had overheard what André had began to say as she interrupted, "This is not the time to talk about that. I need you to access a WestTech security system at Gotham Community General. It looks like someone erased some video data. I'm hoping you can access the system and recover it."

"_Why?"_

"Because we think it can show us who might have slipped into Steven's room and murdered him."

_"We?"_

"Mister Benson and I, we're investigating Steven's murder. I need you to check the data from three to four this morning."

André paused at the other end of the phone for a moment then slowly replied, _"Is that such a good idea? Investigating a murder?"_

"Maybe not, but I need to know who was behind the robbery and his murder. I need to know who really the man behind the curtain is."

_"Man behind the curtain?"_

"Really André? You still haven't seen Tori's last movie?"

_"I haven't gotten around to it. You're always keeping me busy."_

She snapped out impatiently, "André!"

"Okay, okay just give me a few minutes."

"Good, when you're done let me know."

"_Fine, but I want overtime for this."_

She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Fine, time and a half." She pressed the end call button on the phone and slipped it into her pocket.

Freddie curiously asked in mild amazement, "You can do that?"

She smirked and cocked an eyebrow then whispered, "How else can we remote access them to troubleshoot problems with our systems?"

"I understand that, I double majored in computers in college, but I thought there were safeguards put into place to prevent such a thing."

"Yeah, but who puts in the safeguards?"

He shook his head as the elevator doors opened. The pair stepped out of the elevator and headed to the entrance.

Freddie easily remarked before he could catch himself, "You're right, you did come in handy."

He noticed that despite a few apparent gaffs, he was becoming relatively at ease with the lovely millionaire, more so than he was working with Carly. He wasn't sure if he thought that was a good thing or a problem of starting to blur the lines between being mild manner and somewhat of a meek reporter and his alter ego that the Daily Planet liked to splash across its pages.

Jade rolled her eyes and sarcastically remarked, "You mean my cleavage and legs came in handy."

"As nice as they are…" He shut his mouth, realizing how he was starting that statement, but quickly pushed through his embarrassment, "…but that wouldn't have mattered if you weren't 'Jade West'."

She cocked her once pierced eyebrow, bemused by his continuing bashful manner when he accidentally crossed the line in professionalism.

The pair reached the high performance vehicle and quickly slipped inside of it from their respective positions. She tapped a button on the dash and a compartment opened to show a small video monitor.

"You sure do have all the gadgets."

She playfully teased, "Careful Mister Benson, you look like you about to salivate."

"Sorry, all this stuff fascinates me. I guess I still see the wonder of it all growing up on a farm in a small town and not starting to take it for granted like everyone else in Metropolis."

Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket then answered it, "Jade?"

The CEO quickly answered, apparently having gotten some stimulant between her wakeup call and his callback, _"Okay, I got it. Someone deleted it, but they didn't 'delete' it. The memory partition was still intact and I was able to recover the data."  
_  
"So we can view it?"

_"Yep, I'll send it through your phone."_

"Good and make sure you download a copy to WestTech's secure servers. I don't want to lose the video."

_"Absolutely."_

She motioned with her phone filled hand towards a plug outlet under the monitor. "Can you plug my phone up for me?"

"Yes ma'am." He grabbed the stud and pulled out the universal plug. He gently took her hand, the warmth sending a pleasant tingling sensation through his hand. She didn't mind the cupping of her hand while he fit the plug into the bottom of her phone. The next moment the video André was transmitting to the phone displayed on the monitor.

Freddie released her hand and she quickly thumbed over her screen to fast forward through the video to see anyone coming in or out of the elevator. Near the beginning of the video, they saw Robbie and Detective Vega rapidly step into the elevator while Kelvin walked away from his station while Carl lazily remained in his seat. There was nothing of note on the video for about twenty minutes other than a stray nurse or two entering and exiting Carson's room.

She idly commented, "Okay, Carl's sitting at his position, drinking a cup of coffee…"

The next moment three gentlemen entered the frame of the elevator camera. Jade hit the play button to slow the frames down to the normal playing speed. She took a slow breath and her face became an impassive expression as she slowly remarked in identifying one of the individuals by pointing to the screen, "That looks like Mason to me and a few of his friends."

They watched for a few minutes until there was a muffled scream in the background then the sound of people running to the room. Seconds later, Mason and his bodyguards walked back to the elevator as nurses scrambled to the room.

"So we got him entering the floor then exiting the floor around the time of Carson's scream."

Jade shook her head. "Yeah, but I can already see his lawyers spinning it that he was just visiting his employee and that Mason didn't know that Steven was suspected in trying to kill him. There's that little bit of reasonable doubt that Steven jumped just after he left the room—and that is assuming this can even get into evidence. It's not exactly legal getting this tape."

"No, but it could be used as leverage against Carl to get him to confess that he allowed Mason inside the room to kill him."

"That's not going to get him to talk. He's not going to cop to being an accessory to a murder."

"He might as this already shows he's at least derelict in his duty that threatens his pension then lying about it in an official police investigation. How far away does he look from retirement? Maybe five years at most?"

"So we find Carl, show him the video and get him to squeal to Robbie?"

"That sounds like a good plan to me."

Officer Carl's Residence  
Suburbs of Gotham City, NJ

The black sports car slowly pulled up in front the almost cookie cutter house in the nice residential neighborhood just outside the city proper. It was a nice neighborhood to raise a family, away from the crime (even the reduced crime that the Commissioner boasted about) that plagued the city. The millionaire looked out of the passenger window towards the house and let her mind drift off into how her life would have been like if her family had lived here and her parents had been middle-class. Her mind further drifted into wondering what it would be like if she was just one of the moms she was seeing playing in the yard with their children.

Freddie turned off the engine and broke her out of her thoughts, "It looks like we're here. Is that the address Mister Harris gave you?"

Jade looked down at her phone that she had kept in her hand during their journey and read off the address then looked back to the house to see that it was the correct number. She answered in a detached voice, part of her mind still within her daydream, "Yeah, this is the house."

He opened his door and stepped out then quickly walked around the front of the car. He opened the door for her and offered his hand to her as she slipped her phone back in her pocket. She carefully turned her legs to prevent giving him a show and step out while taking his hand. She gratefully smiled as she stood up then held on to his hand a few seconds more than necessary.

The investigative pair turned and headed for the door as the car door shut behind them.

Freddie tapped the doorbell and they patiently waited for a few seconds before the door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with strawberry blonde hair. He politely greeted her and flashing her a press badge, "Hello ma'am. I'm Freddie Benson of the Daily Planet and I'd like to speak with your husband if it is all possible? I'm doing a story about the police fundraiser."

The politely smiled, finding in what she saw as a cute couple even if she thought the young woman's skirt could be a little longer and replied, "I'm sorry, Carl was called in on an emergency."

Jade curiously asked, "After pulling nearly a double shift?"

The blonde softly laughed, joining the young twenty-something in mild disbelief, "I know. The department can be so demanding, but it was an emergency they said, so duty calls."

Freddie nodded his thanks, "Thank you ma'am. We'll catch him at another time. You have a nice Sunday."

She lifted a hand and waved them away while she remarked, "You too."

He and Jade turned to head back to her car with him opening the door for her then walking around to slip into the driver's seat. Freddie sighed in annoyance, "That was a wasted trip. So you want to drive back to police headquarters and try to track him down?"

"If they called him in for something, he's probably in route to wherever they need him to be."

Freddie slid his left pointer finger and thumb under his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose then remarked, "So we have to wait until his shift's over?"

"Maybe, but I'd like to know what he's up to now. An emergency call? A little suspicious much?"

He pulled his hand away and readjusted his glasses to look at her and questioned, "How do you propose we do that?"

The dark haired millionaire cocked an eyebrow as another idea came to her mind. She pulled out her phone again and pressed the speed dial again then tapped the speaker button. She heard André's tired voice, _"Yes Jade? Will I ever get a day off?"_

"Maybe on the fourth of July, but right now I need to know if there is any way we can track down an officer's police cruiser."

He loudly sighed on the other end of the phone then answered, _"Fine, I'll search the police bands and see if I can locate his car."_

The pair eagerly waited for André's reply. They could hear him walking then start typing. There was another pause then he answered, _"There's nothing on the police bands of his location."_

Jade glanced to Freddie then cautiously answered, "Can you… fake a call from dispatch and see if he'll respond?"

Freddie raised an eyebrow over the rim of his glasses at her while there was a pause at the other end of the line.

André finally responded, _"I could access the radio tower from West Tower, but someone might be able to triangulate back to it if someone investigated later…"_

Jade took a deep breath and looked to Freddie, almost asking his opinion on what she should tell André. In any other situation she wouldn't hesitate in her answer, but she had a sudden knot of apprehension in not wanting to disappoint him. She pushed it aside and stated, "Do it."

There was another pause and the pair waited for about half a minute, an awkward silence falling between them. She bowed her head to avoid seeing his eyes, feeling like he was judging her doing such an underhanded thing.

André finally answered, _"He says he's heading on his standard patrol route, but it looks like he's heading towards old Ace Chemicals."_

Jade idly asked, "Why would he be heading there?"

"What's Ace Chemicals?"

She looked up and met his eyes, somewhat startled that she didn't find any judgment in them. She cleared her voice and settled herself then answered, "It's a local chemical plant that constantly shuffles hands and can't maintain safety standards. Someone buys it, gets it up to code to start manufacturing, drops below code and gets bought out by someone else and the cycle repeats. I'm not even sure who owns it this month."

"Why would he be going there?"

"I have no idea. Maybe they think someone's hiding out there during the changeover in ownership?" She shook her head in mild disgust as they had to wait then continued, "We won't be able to talk to him until he gets back from whatever clandestine meeting he's going to. Well I guess we'll have to pick this up tomorrow."

She pulled the strap over her head then dropped it from her arm to be catch by her other hand. She rotated her arm around and put on a tight smile. "I think my arm's getting better. I guess I can drop you off at your hotel or anywhere else you want to go since we have to cut through the city."

He gave her a weary expression and slightly pulled down his glasses to look over the rim before glancing at her shoulder. He quickly readjusted his glasses and remarked, "You want to continue this tomorrow? What about your plans with Miss Vega?"

"I'm sure Tori'll understand. We'll have plenty of time to go out later since she'll be filming here for a few weeks." She teased, "You're not trying to get rid of me are you?"

"No ma'am. I… it's nice having a partner to investigate with."

She could admit to herself that it was nice to investigate along side someone, but her curiosity was peaked by the statement. "Oh? Don't you do that with Miss Shay?"

He cleared his throat in mild embarrassment and glanced away, "She ah… she makes it clear that she's in charge and I'm there to help her out."

"I'm sorry. Is that why she gets her name first in stories?"

"For the most part."

"Would you like someone else to work with? Someone that wouldn't be as much of a glory hound? I could make a phone call…"

He blinked and slightly furled his brow, never considering _not_ working with Carly and it was actually hampering his career as a reporter. However, he had never really considered his job as a career moving towards one day becoming the head of a department or eventually the editor-in-chief when he saw it as only a means to an end in being able to see trouble before it blew up or able to poke his nose in places he couldn't do otherwise.

He eventually, but hesitantly answered, "No, it's fine. I like working with Carly."

She furled her brow and asked with mild disbelief, "You like being second best?"

"It's not that, it's…"

Her eyes opened, seeing that she had been right at the fundraiser: he had a thing for his partner, but it was quite unrequited as she apparently had a thing for the 'Superman'. She slightly bowed her head to take a moment to gather her thoughts then looked back up and quietly remarked, "You really do have a thing for her?"

"What?" He quickly shook his head and rapidly started to utter, "No, she's just my friend and partner. Our relationship isn't like that. We don't have those types of feelings towards one another. She…" He trailed off, not sure what else to say without digging the hole further in front of the lovely woman.

She leaned further over to him (they were already turned to one another and leaning to direct their respective attention to the phone) and gently took him by the chin with her free hand and lifted his face to meet his eyes through his pair of glasses, their faces only inches from each other.

She looked to him with a sympathetic gaze and he felt for a moment she was looking directly into his soul as she whispered, "She what?"

They held their stares and in that same moment, he thought he was doing the same to her and what he saw was quite beautiful and more importantly, honesty and acceptance. He felt he was back in her kitchen just after the robbery as they looked at each other. It was probably for that reason he quietly admitted, maybe more than either of them realized at the time, "…she only sees an 'S' and not me… never me."

Her hand slipped from under his chin to his cheek to cup it and stroke the side of it with her thumb and whispered, "I'm sorry…"

She held his cheek as their eyes remained locked with one another and they seemed drawn to one another and just as their lips were to about meet, André's voice called out from the phone Jade was still holding, _"Jade? Ah, Jade? Do you need me for anything else?"_

The pair quickly broke away and settled back into their respective seats, looking anywhere but each other. Jade took a quick breath then answered, "No, that's it. Thanks for all the help André. Bye." She pressed the end call button then glanced out the front windshield.

He glanced towards the steering wheel and started in an awkward voice, "Okay, if you feel up to driving then my hotel will be fine to drop me off. I ah… can get started on my story and maybe have it sent to the chief to make tomorrow's paper. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow—I mean our investigation and figure out what Carl was up to too."

She nodded her head and choked out, "Right… right. We'll continue tomorrow."

He stuck the key in the ignition and started up the car then pulled away from the curb.

It was an awkwardly silent drive to his hotel as if they were two teenagers back in middle school and didn't know how to talk to the opposite sex.

Ace Chemicals  
Gotham, NJ

Beck patiently waited off to the side of a six foot tall safe with only a handful of his crew (Sam being absent) was thoroughly 'cleaning' the rest of the office by taking every shred of paper and stuffing them into duffle bags to make sure there wasn't one line of text that could link the company to Thornesmith while the safecracker took the elaborate step of taking a blowtorch to circle around the tumbler combination lock to get into the safe.

They of course knew the combination to the safe, but simply opening it wouldn't further the appearance that this was an act of industrial espionage.

The welder finished the last of his cut and turned off the flame just as the lock fell off and clattered on the floor. He opened the safe, but instead of finding stacks of confidential documents in a few shelves, there were just a few stray empty folders.

Beck took a sharp breath then coldly stared at the empty safe as he shouted, "We've been set up boys. We got to get out of here _now!_"

However, unfortunate for the secret gangster and his crew, the following events had taken place just minutes ago while the safe was being cracked…

Outside the main entrance of the chemical planet, Detective Gary was handing out several sheets with Beck's picture on the front to a dozen uniformed officers, one including Officer Carl. He cautioned, "Alright boys, this is the guy we're after, Beckett 'Beck' Oliver. All those rumors about 'The Joker' are true and he's him, but we're letting the story of him being Carson circulate to not tip our hand. This is our chance to nab him without risking any civilians and red-handed trying to frame Mister Thornesmith. He's dangerous as they say, so don't hesitate to use your weapon if he doesn't give up at the first word of 'freeze'."

The handpicked officer's nodded their understanding then turned to enter the premises…

…and just as Beck and his crew were dropping everything to flee the scene as quickly as possible, the cops had arrived several yards from the office and shielded by the various pieces of industrial equipment.

"FREEZE!" one officer shouted as he and several others caught them trying to leave.

The mob soldiers already had their weapons out and started firing a hail of .38 and .45 rounds, striking pieces of equipment and holding the officers back for a few seconds. One stray shot punctured a pressurized gas line, causing a jet of high press steam to block the officers' path and start filling that area with a thick gas resembling fog, but not before one of the officers hit one of the mob soldiers with a blast from his shotgun and buckshot tearing into his chest. He was thrown back and shattered one of the windows to the files office before collapsing dead.

A number of gangsters took the opportunity to scatter and try to make a break for the exits. Beck turned and headed towards a flight of stairs just outside and to the rear of the office.

* * *

As the fire started intensifying and Gary trying to direct officers to cutoff any escape for the mobsters, Detective Vega arrived with a few more officers. He demanded, "What's going on?"

Gary gave a sideways looked to his partner over his shoulder and uttered a quick apology, "Sorry partner. We got a tip on a break in and had to move so quickly that we couldn't get a SWAT team out here. It looks like your kid's friend really is the Joker and was trying to plant some evidence against Mister Thornesmith. We're trying to apprehend him now."

Vega looked to his partner in mild disbelief and some sadness at the news.

"If he's as dangerous as they say, we might not be able to do it."

* * *

On the higher levels of the plant, Beck made it to one of the main control stations for the plant and was turning on every knob and switch to bring the plant alive as a distraction.

It was a fine distraction as machines came alive and various steam ports started jetting out coolant. On a level below Beck, it was allowing two of the mob soldiers to hold off several officers under the cover of some equipment and concealment of the smoke. They fired off a few more shots to keep them at bay then turned to flee, laughing as they went in believing they were making fools of the cops.

They were several yards down the corridor between a supporting beam and a piece of heavy equipment before they would reach an open area with cutout square opening in the floor for moving equipment from one floor to the other when something that looked like it was from Hell descended to block their path.

They raised their weapons out of fear and started to fire while one dashed off to the side, instinctively knowing what he was facing and ran out of fear. However, the dark figured that resembled a bat was quicker with raising her arm and shooting out a dart with a line attached. The dart tore through the right shoulder of one of them then she yanked hard, pulling him over the guardrail for the access floor. He tumbled over and while there was still slack in the line, detached it from her grappling gun and wrapped it around the guardrail in front of her.

He stopped from crashing onto the floor and started swinging back and forth just above the ground level.

Detective Vega and several officers were running under the spot just as the man was shouting for someone to let him down. The detective looked up and his mouth dropped open when he saw the dark figure look over the railing down at them. "Mother of God…"

She turned and started down the trail where the other gangster had fled.

* * *

Beck was running up stairs as fast as he could without tripping over his long coat, the other gangster behind him. However, he was unable to catch up with the long haired young man as the Bat had been quicker to round around that stairwell and stand flush against a support column. As he was about to pass to take the next flight of stairs, she threw her right fist back, striking the gangster in the face and breaking his nose with the armored back of her hand. He collapsed backwards with a considerable thump.

The long haired former inspiring actor knelt down to catch his breath when he reached the final catwalk. Unlike other guardrails of the intricate maze of metal mesh flooring, this one was several dark plates he could conceal himself for the moment. He looked down and saw several cops start to fan out on the lower level, it only being a matter of time before they closed in on him.

He stood up and decided to make a break for it in the direction he hoped was an exit, but before he got a few feet, he froze in place, surprised at seeing the costume wearing woman descended from a higher level and blocking his path. The first thought that came to his mind was that he thought ironically that he was underdressed for the meeting. He raised his weapon at her, ready to fire on her, but she surprised him by her stare. She narrowed her eye and her mouth was a thin line before she motioned her head back and whispered in a dark tone, "This way."

She turned her back on him and started down another catwalk.

He was surprised by her action and lowered his .45 and for some reason, felt he could trust the woman. If she wanted him caught, she could have tried to stop him, not just say hi and turn her back on him. He wondered if she didn't recognize him without the white makeup and dyed green hair. He brushed those thoughts aside and started jogging after her to turn a corner.

They quickly reached a stretch of narrow catwalk with another large monitoring station to their right. He looked past her and saw the green exit side above the door and realized that she was leading him out. However, before they could make it to the exit, several cops on the lower floor saw them cross the catwalk and immediately started firing.

They instinctively ducked for cover, but Beck wasn't fast enough as a bullet flew past his face and struck on of the gauges on the instrument panels to their right. The bullet ricochet away, but it shattered the glass and sending a few shards into the right side of his cheek and neck. The surprise of the impact threw him off of his step and he leaned to his left. However, before he could regain his footing, he hit the guardrail to his left and he tumbled over.

The Bat turned and nearly threw herself over the railing to try to catch him. Fortunately, he was able to grab a handle just before he fell into a large open tank of some green substance.

The Bat shouted in an oddly familiar voice, "Beck! Take my hand!"

There was something in her voice that he recognized and instinctively trusted, but just couldn't place. However, the mystery didn't prevent him from lifting his hand and grabbing the dark dressed woman's offered hand. She pulled hard, throwing her body weight back while he tried to lift himself with his other hand on a bar.

However, the pair could only grab each other's fingertips as he was too far down from where she could lean over and it wasn't enough purchase for them to hand on to each other. His fingers slipped through her fingers just as his other hand lost his grip.

He let out a scream as she looked on in horror as he fell backwards and towards an open tank of green liquid. However, miraculously before he hit the vat of chemicals, a red blur swoop across it and caught him.

The time between breaths, the red blur appeared just feet from her on the catwalk holding the gangster.

Beck looked wide eyed in shock at the 'Man of Tomorrow' while the Kryptonian firmly held him by the shoulder. He had to take a moment to realize that he was still alive.

Superman politely asked, "Mister Oliver I presume?"

He instinctively nodded in return.

The Bat whispered in a sharp, cold voice, "Let him go."

The blue costume wearing man retorted in a curt tone, "No, he's breaking and entering to cover up the crimes of his boss. He needs to be handed over to the police."

The blue eyed vigilante hissed out coldly, "I wasn't asking."

She pulled from behind the small of her back with her right hand what looked like a boomerang, but it had two distinct 'wings' joined to a circular disk, giving it a vague resemblance to a bat.

As he was distracted with the show of her pulling out the bat-a-rang, she let a small ball, about the size of a marble, slip into her hand then threw it between them. The marble sized ball struck the floor and instantly smoke filled the air, clouding the three's vision.

The muscular young man appeared unaffected while Beck squeezed his eyes shut, placed a hand over his mouth and nose started coughing up a storm.

She lashed out with the sharp edge instrument and in one swipe, cut the fabric of the sleeve of Beck's overcoat and leaving the sliver of garment in Superman's hand and freeing the gangster. She shoved Beck away with her open hand out of the billowing smoke and hissed out over her shoulder to him, "Go!"

The handsome long haired stumbled away out of it, trying to catch his breath and not going to look a gift horse in the mouth for the vigilante helping him escape the one man army.

She spun in place and backhanded the muscular young man, but her armored glove bounced off his jaw.

He took a hard suck of breath, so hard that the Bat's cap rippled around her body towards him and the smoke was sucked into his mouth.

The cowl over her head and face partially covered her dumbfounded expression at seeing the smoke gone and his billowing cheeks. He turned and blew out the smoke harmlessly off to the side. He looked to her then took a step forward, clearly wanting to go after the mob soldier.

However, the dark dressed young woman took a sidestep to block his path and swung hard with a right cross to his face.

He didn't bother evading as the armor plated knuckles struck him across the cheek.

Instead of her hand striking him across the face, her fist bounced off his face. She took a step back and opened and closed her fist, dropping the bat-a-rang. The padding in the glove took some, but not all of the blow. She imagined this was what it was like to hit a steel wall.

Superman stated in a stern voice, "I'm not your enemy."

"Maybe not, but I can't let you take him in." She threw out her right armored shin and struck the side of his left knee then followed it up with a left hook, but again it was a useless gesture as it didn't faze him.

She took a few steps back and rose up her forearms to shield her head with her armored and razor sharp fin mounted gauntlets, ready to fight it out with him despite the feeling in the pit of her stomach that it would be a hopeless and useless gesture.

The pause between the costumed individuals gave them the opportunity to look each other in the eyes trying to size up the other and attempting to anticipate the other's move, however they each saw a look of familiarity to the other's set of eyes that caused each to interrupt their respective trains of thought. Also for the Bat, the super powered individual's face had a striking resemblance to someone she knew.

Before either could question what they saw, Detective Vega's voice cried out from below the catwalk, "You two stop right there!"

The pair broke eye contact and looked down at the pair of detectives, Gary raising his gun at the Bat. He was able to fire off a shot at her before David Vega could grab his arm and pushed it down.

She grabbed the side of her cap and held it up to shield herself from the shot, but the man of steel was of course faster than a speeding bullet and stood between the Bat and the bullet so it could ricochet off of his back.

She look into his eyes, surprised that he would just throw himself in front of a bullet and seeing the same familiarity in his eyes that she just couldn't place or her mind wouldn't _let_ her place. She didn't hold the stare long as she could hear the shouts and footsteps of approaching officers.

She turned to look to her right, hoping to dash out that exit, but saw the silhouette of several police officers coming up the stairs. The man in blue had the same idea and looked to his right to see the same thing.

The pair turned back to one another, another potential stalemate about to happen between them. However, he was the one that broke it by wrapping his arm between the cape and her back to grab the left side of her abdomen then lifted off the ground with her.

The detectives looked on in awe at seeing the man lift up in the air by his own power just as a few uniform officers rushed from both ends of the catwalk.

Gary muttered in disbelief, "The Bat is real…"

Vega finished up, "And 'the Superman' is too…"

* * *

Less than a minute later, the Bat and Superman were out the door to the roof. The large neon Ace Chemicals sign illuminated the pair as she pushed off of him and out of his grip before taking a few steps backwards. She lifted up her armored gauntlet covered forearms, ready to pick up where they left off.

The red cape wearing young man raised his hands up in surrender. "I'm not your enemy. There's no need for that."

"There isn't? You were eager to hold Beck for the cops, so why not me?"

"Because you're not a criminal."

He couldn't see it under her mask, he hadn't directed his X-ray vision on her, but he could tell she raised her brow under it and gave him a disbelieving stare as her lovely blue eyes were quite expressive.

"Okay, you're a vigilante, but you're not like them."

She dismissively snorted, "Sounds like situational morality to me."

He cracked a boyish grin, one she swore she saw before, and confidently replied, "So says the woman that tried to punch me out in letting a gangster get away. Why did you let him go—why did you get him away from me?"

She dropped her arms to her sides and let her cape fall to shield most of her front and hide her lovely figure. She answered in a curt tone, "It's complicated."

"How about you explain it to me?"

"You think I'm going to explain my motivations to a complete stranger?"

He nodded in acknowledgment of her question and gave her an easy going smile. "No, I guess not." He dropped his hands then raised one in an offered handshake. "Hello, I'm… they call me Superman and I take you're 'The Bat—Batwoman'?"

She looked down at his hand, unsure what to make of the gesture then back at him with a guarded expression.

He cracked a soft smile and pointed out, "If I wanted to hand you over to the police, I could have done that down there and you wouldn't have been able to get away. It's just a handshake ma'am."

His assurance wasn't reassuring to her, so she looked up and refused to shake his hand. However, she answered with a standoffish tone, "I prefer just 'The Bat'."

He patiently waited for her to continue, but she remained silent, studying him as if she could figure him out like a puzzle. He in turn did the same, but he of course had the advantage of X-ray vision and could look through her mask if he chose, but hesitated to do so with a sense that he would be violating her in some manner. She wanted her identity a secret and he wanted the same, so he was trusting mutual respect. He quietly broke the staring contest and asked, "And?"

"And what? We exchanged introductions and you expect I'm going to explain to you my motivations? Since we're both costumed vigilantes we're just going to become 'Super Friends'?"

"No, I'm not that naïve—"

"Good," she interrupted in a curt tone.

He patiently continued, "But we are on the same side and I need to know why you let him go."

She turned and looked over her shoulder as she started towards one side of the building to the ledge, "No, you don't."

"Fine, if you can't give me at least a little to reassure me you have a plan for him then I'll track him down and just drop him on the steps of Gotham Police Department Headquarters."

She stopped in her tracks and just waited for a moment.

He could hear her heartbeat slightly increase along with her breaths becoming deeper, the advantages of superhearing.

He had upset her and he knew that was a bad thing.

She whispered in a cold tone, one that would frighten lesser men, "I heard you weren't above threatening mobsters and crooked politicians… I guess I fall into that category. So much for being potential 'Super Friends'…"

He responded in a slightly pleading tone, desperate to understand, "You've been cleaning up the streets for weeks, maybe even longer and striking fear into the street thugs so people can actually start walking the streets and hitting the Mob in the pockets, but then you let him go? It doesn't make sense. You can forgive my confusion and questioning."

She turned in place and answered as if he was a child, "Life doesn't have to make sense."

"Why? Just why would you try to save one criminal? Should I just guest at the motives? Do you have a personal relationship with him? Is that why you let him go? You can't bare the thought of handing him over to the cops?"

She walked over and did something that was futile, but surprised them both: she slapped him across the face. "My motivations are not up for discussion and I don't appreciate you calling into question my virtue."

He looked down, somewhat embarrassed by his allusion. "I'm sorry, that was out of line ma'am."

"Yes it was… but, if you're going to be so insistent on wanting to know to the point of threatening me then fine. If I let the police have him, he would just end up as dead as Steven Carson and he'd literally be another dead-end in trying to bring down Thornesmith and the rest of the mob bosses. Now I have leverage on him to try to cut a deal and tell everything he knows to the D.A. With what he knows and what Carson gave up, Shapiro should be able to take down all of them."

Superman cynically remarked, "And gets a cut a sweetheart deal since they're friends?"

She snapped back, "I don't care. I want Thornesmith and Lee and Quincy and Dickers brought down."

"Even if Carson was telling the truth and he really is the Joker? He gets a free pass on all the murdering?"

She gave him a look a sheer hatred, but she wasn't sure who it was directed towards: him or herself using his lovely blue eyes as a mirror back onto herself.

He sympathetically remarked, "You care about him and it hurts knowing what he's become."

She verbally lashed out, "Don't try to psychoanalyze me you big flying brick. This is about taking down the entire Mob and if one guy out of all of it isn't under the jail for the rest of his life for what he's committed then I think that's a small price to pay."

"Yet it is still going to eat away at you because you know someone's going to be denied justice?"

His words hurt her more than any blow she had ever received in her life. She defiantly frowned to shield her pain and her eyes bore into his eyes, a stare he didn't flinch away.

After several seconds, each of their expressions softened as startling and immediately doubtful realizations occurred to each of them studying the other's eyes. He softly began to whisper in a dumbfounded manner that slipped into Freddie's normal conversational tone, "Miss We—"

However, he was interrupted when the service door flew open and several officers with their weapons trained on them. Superman instantly took a step in front of the Bat to shield her from any fire. "Officers, I believe you are far too busy in worrying about arres—"

He didn't get to finish as several officers opened fire on him. The shots were just wasted ammunition as the bullets ricocheted off of the 'S' shaped emblem on his chest. After the first few wasted shots, they stopped firing and looked upon him in fear.

"Gentlemen, that is not necessary. You should be worrying about rounding up the rest of the burglars."

Detective Vega gathered his courage and pointed out, "Well what about her and you?"

"I will worry about…" He turned and saw that the dark figure had disappeared from behind him. He blinked and let a soft chuckle past his lips at the notion that she had slipped away from him.

Gary was annoyed that the blue figure had allowed 'The Bat' to escape, but his partner was focused at the dominating manner at hand. He cautiously started as he kept his weapon trained on the visitor from Metropolis. "Mister… Superman, I'm placing you under arrest for aiding the escape of a fugitive."

The young man slightly tilted his head to the side and curiously answered, "I wasn't aware any outstanding warrants for her arrest and I was attempting to make a citizen's arrest for Mister Oliver, so I don't see how you have any grounds to arrest me. Furthermore, I'm sorry sir, but I invoke my right not to speak with the police." He looked up and raised his right fist completely vertically before lifting off the roof and soaring through the air.

The detectives took a few steps forward and looked at him fly away. As they saw the red and blue dot disappear into the early evening, Gary shook his head and muttered in disbelief as he saw the man soar away, "This is going to be some police report."

West Manor  
Bristol Township, NJ

Jade sat in the corner of the couch in the living room wearing an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, her legs brought up to her chest with her arms wrapped around her shins and chin resting on her knees, looking off at the unused fireplace. Lying beside her on the other end of the couch was her Kevlar weaved body suit with the big black bat symbol on the chest and her black cowl and cape resting on the 'lap' of the spread out suit.

The eye shadow that covered not only her eyelids but her entire eye sockets that she wore along with her mask was a mess running down her cheeks after her tears of rage and regret.

She violated and shamed her quest for justice… her moral code… to let Beck go simply because they were once a couple in high school that had survived their breakup to remain friends and still loved each other as such for nearly the last ten years. She had not just given him a free pass but helped him escape justice. She hated him for becoming the crook she always feared he would become with working for Mason that preyed on people just as much as the rest of them. She hated the flying brick from Metropolis for pointing it out to her and she hated herself for allowing it to happen.

She sat there quietly for the rest of the night in the dark.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and my twists to the plot and character exploration… remember, it is only a pair of glasses. Any questions and comments of course are always welcome. OneHorseShay


	10. The Mob Strikes Back

Hello my dear readers! I hope everything has been going well for you since my last update. I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter.

Thank you all for the thoughtful and extensive reviews and I believe I answered them all personally.

Illusorygentleman has actually done a continuation to my one-shot, Killer Tuna Dream. It is M-rated, so for those not old enough to read that, don't. I fully approve of it and do consider it 'canon' with the rest of my Jedi series.

Fanfic-Reader-88 has also updated his Freddie/Trina story, so you should check it out.

I don't think I've forgotten anyone about updates, so on with the story.

Rating: T Violence, Language

* * *

Chapter 9

Mason Thornesmith's Office  
Ellsworth Building  
Sunday, June 24

Mason sat behind his desk, wearing an impassive expression, but the other two crime bosses sitting on the other side of the desk knew under the expression bubbled a barely contained cold rage.

Mrs. Lee was slightly concerned as she had seen his anger unleashed a few times and it usually ended up with someone dead. She had a particular person in mind that should happen to, but she was slightly concerned that he may not care who he took his rage out on. Quincy on the other hand saw it as an opportunity to manipulate the man to finally act. He plainly stated, "Beck's alive and he has to know you set him up, the Bat looked like she was helping him escape and now 'The Superman' is here. With everything else that's happened, they could bring us down since the D.A. now has the original paperwork in our dealings and whatever was left at Ace Ch—"

Mason dismissively interrupted, "Nothing was at the plant or any of the other front companies. I had them swept clean before I sent Beck out. You have nothing to fear from Shapiro and now the cops will be hunting the Bat and harassing that circus freak. We don't have to worry about them. Beck is my problem now."

The other mob boss glared at his partner and snapped, "It's not just going to work out in the end by not doing anything. Shapiro is going to be looking into the companies anyway and if he turns over enough stones with their help—the Bat had to be the one that broke into your place. The time to act is now while we still have time."

Mason checked his rage as he asked, "What do you propose we do?"

Quincy was about to answer, but Mrs. Lee replied in a sharp tone, "I'm killing the little ragtop. We take him out and no one would dare move against us. It's far more reassuring than your wishful thinking."

"You kill a D.A. and it'll bring too much heat down on us. The Feds couldn't ignore that and Beck would certainly go after you."

Mrs. Lee upturned a corner of her mouth and arrogantly retorted, "Hoover doesn't even believe we exist and as for Beck… he's too busy trying to kill you for setting him up."

The immigrant businessman narrowed his gaze on the Oriental woman, resisting the urge to straggle her for her smartass mouth.

Quincy stated in a resolute tone, "You take care of the D.A.; I'll take care of the Bat."

The two tore their eyes away from each other to look at the fronting music producer. Lee curious asked, "How will you do that?"

"The way I was going to deal with her in the first place instead of that nonsense of hiring the Joker—Beck—in the first place: outsource a more reliable cleaner."

Mason relaxed back in his chair and in a false calmness asked, "So you did go behind my back?"

"Yes."

"So another betrayal in my ranks," Mason stated rather than asked.

"I don't work for you Mason. I don't need your permission in order to protect my interests. I was not going to wait around for him to hit my places. This is a partnership that benefits all of us and when it ceases to be then it's over."

"This partnership is to benefit us all because we all have interests and we're stronger together than apart and peace is preferable to war, but it doesn't work if we are going behind each other's backs."

"I wouldn't have to if you hadn't gone soft Mason. You're afraid to make the tough decisions and for a little blood to spill. You couldn't even take out Beck yourself."

Mason pursed his lips and slightly nodded his head as he glanced down towards the table. The silence was somewhat eerie towards the other two mob bosses until he finally asked after taking a deep breath, "How many campaigns were you in during the Great War?"

Shawn bristled at the question as Mason knew that he was in college at the time of the war.

The titular head of their criminal syndicate continued, "I'm responsible for the deaths of thousands during the war. I've seen death and destruction on a scale that you can't imagine and the sheer waste of it. I am not… weak… I'm prudent with my violence. Neither of you have apparently learned that lesson, but… that's not my concern." He waved off the more muscular man. "Just kill the damn Bat, Batwoman or whatever the bloody hell you want to call her." He looked to Mrs. Lee and was just as dismissive as he stated, "You deal with Shapiro as you see fit, but are on your own if you fail. Now both of you get the bloody hell out of my office."

Parking Lot  
District Attorney's Office  
Gotham City, NJ  
Monday, June 26

The morning was a particularly dreary for the summer day, but no one was particularly complaining since it beat a summer heat wave, when Robbie pulled into his parking spot. The weather matched Robbie's mood as he turned off the ignition and stepped out of his vehicle, briefcase in hand.

He should have been in a good mood that morning with the news from last night that the police had caught several men tentatively working for Mason breaking into the Ace Chemicals factory in an apparent attempt to steal documents, giving credence to the idea that he was attached to the company in a less than legal manner. However, he didn't feel much like celebrating because those men were directly under Beck in his job with Mason and he was spotted along with them during the attempted arrest. The fact that it looked like Beck's apartment had been hastily cleared out and Sam hadn't been seen in her apartment since last night showed conscious of guilt to his longtime friend. Worst yet, Dickers had personally gone to a judge to get an arrest warrant for the long haired young man behind his back.

Robbie's stomach had been twisted in knots the entire night. A part of him couldn't believe it—wouldn't believe that Beck would actually be involved with Mason's illegal activities. The others caught saying they were just legally retrieving documents and it was the cops that just opened fire on them without a chance to surrender allowed that piece of his mind to take refuge in his faith for his friend. It may have been naïveté on his part, but if Robbie and Detective Vega's theory that Mason really did own the business or at least had a significant hand in it then the mob soldiers actually had a credible defense in the court as they could point to the D.A. agreeing with them that they really hadn't committed a crime. Beck really could be innocent and found not guilty in a court of law.

Robbie was so deep in his thoughts that he was startled when a van screeched to a halt right in front of him several yards before he reached the side entrance of the building and the side door in front of him slid open. Two gentleman of Asian descent quickly jumped out.

"Hey! Watch where you're driv—"

He didn't finish as one of them pulled a sack over his head then the pair dragged him inside the van. The non-descript van sped off, wheels spinning and leaving a skid marks in its wake with several witnesses and security watching agape.

West Manor

Freddie knocked on the door and patiently waited for someone to answer, presumably Mister Sikowitz, as the time approached ten that morning.

He had gone to West Tower to meet up with Miss West to continue their investigation and possibly have another conversation, but they had informed him that she called in to say that she wouldn't be in today.

He wondered if she had decided to blow off the investigation and spend the day with Miss Vega, but he seriously doubted that she would be that inconsiderate to him or suddenly stop wanting to get to the bottom of everything after she had invited herself into it in the first place.

There was a slight nagging feeling that he had made her feel awkward with their near kiss and that was the reason for the avoidance. However, there was another part of his mind nagging him that suggested that she was avoiding him because she had recognized him as Superman last night. He had taken hours later that night to finally accept that she was the Bat. She smelled identical to Jade and the look in her eyes screamed to him that she was Jade.

He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact and what that could mean between them, especially with the added complication of him nearly kissing her not more than an hour earlier than their costumed personas meeting. The only reassuring thing about the whole mess was that she looked as if she was moving in to kiss him.

Sikowitz opened the door, pulling him out of his musings. He wore a somewhat concerned expression on his face as he politely greeted the reporter, "I'm sorry Mister Benson, I know you and Madam West were supposed to head out with you and… investigate, but she's not feeling well. I think she overexerted herself and now paying the price this morning. She's staying in for the day."

Freddie didn't bother hiding his concern and quickly stated, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that our… excursion had been so taxing on her, but she's alright?"

"She's not in any medical danger if that is what you are concerned about."

The reporter nodded then continued, "Okay, I understand. I hope she feels better soon. Would you please let her know I stopped by and that…" He cleared his throat and cryptically finished, "…everything's okay between us?"

Sikowitz sympathetically nodded. "I'll pass along the message."

As he turned and headed back to his rental car, he stated, "I'll call later to inform her of what I find out."

"Thank you, I know she would appreciate it."

Freddie returned to his rental car and took a moment to get lost back in his thoughts. He wasn't sure what to make of being turned away. Did something happen last night he didn't realize or see? Had she hurt herself she had hit him several times? Was she afraid that he really had figured out it was her and now just couldn't face him?

Those questions began to run through his mind over and over again as he started the vehicle. The radio turned back on just as the station was interrupted with breaking news. His eyes grew wide at hearing them report that Robbie had been kidnapped in full view of the public just before he walked into the district attorney's office. Only one thought ran through the man from Kansas's mind: 'This looks like a job for Superman'.

Back in the expensive mansion in Jade's bedroom, the millionaire was receiving a phone call from a nearly hysterical Cat about what had happened. Any self-loathing or other negative emotion was swept aside as she tried to reassure her friend on the other end of the phone as she got out of bed and nearly ran to head downstairs and to the study.

District Attorney's Office

Cat sat on a couch in Robbie's office, gently rocking back and forth as Tori sat to her left and held her. The redhead had cried to the point that she had run out of tears and her eyes were a bloodshot red.

Tori softly attempted to reassure her, "Cat, it's going to be alright. Everyone is looking for him and my dad will find him. Jade and André are using everything and anything at West Enterprises to find him. Jade has a lot of money and power and that gets people's attention… whether it is entirely legal or not."

"Tori… I don't know what I'd do if I lost him. It took so long for us to get it right… for me to get it right with him and just let him love me and now that we're happy…" She ironically laughed, "I think he was going to ask me to marry him soon. The campaign was behind us and he was going to get all the mobsters and we'd have a spring wedding."

The brunette brushed some of Cat's red locks behind her left ear and whispered, "You're going to. You're going to be happy and you'll be a beautiful bride. Everything's going to be alright."

Cat desperately wanted to believe her friend, but the ache in her heart wouldn't relent. She bowed her head on Tori's shoulder and buried her face into the crook of her neck.

Tori gently rubbed her hand up and down the redhead's right arm, praying a silent prayer that Robbie would be alight. Hopefully the dark dame would find him in time. However, she'd be surprised who else was on the case to find the one time ventriloquist.

Non-Descript Warehouse  
Industrial District, Gotham, NJ

The young man of Asian decent slumped in the plain wooden chair in which his hands were tied behind his back. His head was slumped over as he was bleeding from his nose and mouth. He looked like he had went through a twelve round fight, but the harlequin dressed young woman had only worked him over for the last fifteen minutes.

The white face painted and green dyed hair mobster stood off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest and lazily rested against the edge of the desk, quickly losing patience with the Asian mobster soldier. Beck may have been in hiding with the plan to skip the country for a while and taking refuge in Havana (after paying Mason a visit), but that didn't mean he was cut off from the outside world. On the contrary, he had to keep abreast of what was going on to hear if the cops had any leads on his location, but when he heard about Robbie's kidnapping…

Sam grabbed Mrs. Lee's soldier by the collar and slightly lifting him up from the chair so he would have to look at her and hissed, "Where is he?!"

He looked up and spat in her face then laughed, "He's probably dead and fish food in the West River."

She closed her eyes just in time to prevent any from getting in her eyes, but her white painted cheek was covered in the crimson liquid. She slowly opened her eyes then answered with a right cross that knocked out a few of his front teeth.

She was about to hit him again, but her partner softly called out, "Harley dear…"

The blonde stayed her hand then took a step back. She turned to go wash her face and reapply her makeup.

In the meantime, the Joker pushed off the edge of the table and pulled out his M1911A from a shoulder holster under his purple long coat. He pulled back the slide to double check that there was a round in the chamber then cocked the hammer back. He gripped Mrs. Lee's soldier by the crown of his head man's to lift his face up to meet look up at the white painted face criminal just as he placed the barrel of the .45 under his chin.

Mrs. Lee's soldier definitely stared back and whispered out through bloody and a few missing teeth, "I'm not afraid to die for my mistress."

The devilish clown stared back and the man suddenly felt he was staring into the eyes of the Christian Devil then he spoke… "I don't care. What I care about is you just used 'probably'. Where would your boys take him?"

"I won't betray my mist—性交!"

He cursed in his native language as the Joker rudely interrupted him from going on a self-righteousness tirade by taking the man's right pointer finger and bending it all the way to the back of his hand with the expected breaking sound of bone.

"I don't care about your Far East honor bullchizz. I want to know where he is and it better be the truth. If it isn't, I'm going to make you suffer for a very long time…"

He placed his gun on top of the man's left hand and grabbed him by the back of his to hold him steady as he brought his lips to his left ear. He whispered so quietly, it sent another chill down the man's spin, "I've read snippets about what your people are doing to the Chinese in your little war with them, so how about we try a few of those things out on you?"

His heart nearly froze and answered, "He's alive… she'd want to kill him personally."

"Okay, we're getting somewhere. What would they drive to get him to her or would she go to them? Everyone knows the van they drove when they kidnapped him."

"They'd hide him in one of her catering trucks for Nozu with an escort from our armored cars. We'd take him to her. It would look too suspicious if she left the restaurant right now."

"When would they take him to her?"

"Whenever she'd call. They're waiting for her to decide. We were just guessing that it would be tonight after the restaurant closed."

The Joker quickly stood up then turned to walk towards the exit, his crew looking to him with confused expressions under their makeup. He turned and fired back into the mobster, putting the forty-five round into the man's chest without a second thought. As one of his subordinates followed behind him, the Joker explained, "That's how we'll get him: they'll move him for us right into our hands. Tell Dopey to cut into the telephone line to make it look like the call is coming from Nozu and use the numbers from his wireless phone."

Happy replied slightly incredulous, "But he doesn't sound Japanese or Chinese or whatever they're pretending to be this week."

Just as Harley was returning from the restroom, the Joker suggested, "Harley can fake the accent."

Harley asked as she returned from the restroom, "What accent?"

Joker nodded his head to Happy and replied, "Happy, fill her in." He continued walking past the blonde, leaving her a little confused with the henchman.

He called out, "What are you going to do?"

"Getting the truck ready." He motioned for the rest to follow and called out, "Come on!"

His subordinates don't hesitate to follow his instructions even if they are still confused why they are trying to rescue the D.A. because to them, friendship doesn't seem like the only reason.

Mason Thornesmith's Office

GCN played on a television in the corner of Mason office their continuing coverage of Robbie's kidnapping while the businessman went about his paperwork in managing his legitimate business. He occasionally glanced at the television to see if there was any update to possibly link to him. He knew that there wouldn't be any of his fingerprints on the crime, but he couldn't be too cautious as Mrs. Lee might want to try to pin it on him if anything went wrong. Carson was smart enough to attempt to blame the Joker on his attempted hit, so he wouldn't discount Mrs. Lee from trying to do the same.

His assistant Chelsea casually entered the office to drop off some paperwork, but she stopped halfway through the office and her face fell along with the papers in her arms.

Mason looked up in mild confusion at seeing her simply dropping the documents and standing frozen in place. "What?"

She pointed past his shoulder.

His eyes narrowed as he turned his swivel seat to look behind him and his face looked on with as much shock as his assistant's at seeing the blue and red young man hovering on the other side of the window… thirty stories above the ground.

Superman had his arms crossed over his chest and looked to the businessman with an impatient expression. He spoke loud enough over the passing wind and through the window. "Open the window."

Mason stood up from his seat and reached over and opened the specially designed window in case there was a fire. He opened the window then took a step back while the young man floated inside.

Superman asked in a curt tone, "Where is Robbie Shapiro?"

The businessman awkwardly laughed, "What makes you think I would know where he was?"

The 'Man of Tomorrow' stated in a flat tone, "You're the crime boss of Gotham. You either explicit ordered it or you gave them permission to do it."

Mason rolled his eyes and tried to laugh off, "Those are baseless accusations made by my failing competi—"

Superman grabbed Mason by the collar and picked him off his feet, shocking the mob boss. "Don't feed me that line. I know you run this city through my own investigation and the D.A. is closing in on you or you wouldn't have sent Mister Oliver and his guys to try to cleanup any connection you had to Ace Chemicals. If he links you to it or… links you to Carson's death… you're finished. Getting him out of the way solves a lot of your problems."

Mason grabbed the kryptonian's wrist and hissed out, "I don't know anything about Ace Chemicals and what Beck did was entirely of his own doing. Steven committed suicide."

"I've seen the video where you visited him and left at the time of his death. I know you were there and I know you or one of your bodyguards did it."

The gray haired gentleman spat, "There is no tape. I wasn't there and you can't prove anything."

"Yes I can…" He turned in place, continuing to hold Mason until Superman was hanging him outside the window.

The mobster grabbed Superman's wrists by both hands to desperately hang on while his feet dangled freely.

"…but if anything happens to him… you will answer to me. No lawyers, no judge, no jury… just me." He tossed Mason back into the office and looked down in disgust to the older man.

Mason rolled to a sitting position and looked back with a hateful expression. "Answer to you?"

"Yes, you'll answer to me."

Superman turned and was about to fly away when he heard Mason mumble, "And who do you answer to?"

He stopped and cracked a smile before he turned in place and confidently answered, "I answer to truth and justice." He turned again and flew away just as Mason's bodyguards burst into the room.

Somewhere on the docks of Gotham City

The Bat impatiently waited in her armored vehicle that looked more like one of Jade West's sports cars than a standard armored car. The vehicle was parked on top of a specially designed elevator and hidden inside two attached rectangular shipping containers. She wanted to bust into Nozu and ring Robbie's location out of the owner of the Japanese restaurant, but it was broad daylight even on the overcast day and lose the element of surprise. She knew the kidnappers had to be Lee's men (one could not be blind to their ethnicity and worry about any PC nonsense in this situation) and the woman never liked Robbie when they had gone to the restaurant when they were in high school and she was on his list to take down after Mason.

However, she wasn't sitting idly by as there were several individuals provided by West Enterprises' in-house security watching the restaurant and she had all of the phone lines, ground and wireless, being monitored from the restaurant and Mrs. Lee's home in the hopes of picking up anything.

As she waited, she couldn't help but blame herself for not doing more to take the fight to the Mob instead of just taking down the low level guys to try to cut off their money supply. It was too slow to try to bleed them out and she knew the Mob would start to fight back, but she never thought they were actually go this far and target Robbie. The Mob did have a few rules and purposely targeting public officials was against one of them.

Her brooding was interrupted with Sikowitz call through one of the speakers on the instrument panel, _"Ma'am, I think we have something."_

"What?"

_"The line from Nozu just called out to a wireless number and said to bring Robbie to her."  
_  
"Could you trace the number to where they were located?"

_"No, not enough time, but I figured out a general area from the tower they were using. I'm sending it to you now."_

The tower with the radius of its reception appeared on her map on her screen. She typed underneath the control panel to instruct the computer to calculate all the possible direct routes to Nozu from that circle. She shook her head at seeing there were too many routes to cover, but it wouldn't do any good as she didn't know what they were driving.

"Was there any mention of what they would be driving?"

"_No."_

She whispered to herself, "Okay… if they're heading to Nozu's then that must mean they have to be driving something that wouldn't look suspicious driving up to the restaurant and give them cover to get him inside or they could drive any car around the back…" She recalled the time that Robbie had two 'Hambone' competitions behind the restaurant with Tori having to win the second one.

Sikowitz suggested, _"They cater."_

"What?"

"They cater. We had them deliver some sushi for the fundraiser because you knew Cat would love it. They could put him in one of their trucks and drive there without anyone giving them a second thought."

"Okay, that sounds right, but how would we intercept them? There's too many routes to cover and if I guess wrong… and I'd draw more attention down the road then the cops looking for Robbie in broad daylight."

Sikowitz remained silent as he couldn't come up with an answer. A nocturnal creature didn't have much place in the light of the day.

* * *

The armored car led the catering van at a leisurely speed down the road towards their boss' restaurant. Some of the mob soldiers were nervous while others were pretty cocky in hiding in plain sight with the D.A. tied up in the back of the catering van.

They approached a traffic light and the three vehicles in succession stopped and patiently waited for the light to change. They watched as a few cars pass back and forth until an odd thing happened: an eighteen-wheeler slowly crossed the intersection from the left, but suddenly stopped the block the intersection.

The men in the armored car in front of the catering truck looked with curious expressions then looked to one another at the trailer that was iconographed with the circus. They looked back to the truck as the side door of the tracker trailer opened, revealing the purple dressed criminal clown holding a Browning Automatic Rifle along with two of his crew holding Thompson submachine guns. He squeezed the trigger along with his companions, firing off several shots in quick succession into the driver's side of the front windshield.

The bulletproof glass stopped the subsonic forty-five caliber rounds, but the .30-06 rounds of the Joker's rifle tore through the glass and the bodies of the drive and passenger, their blood splattering all inside the car and insides of the windows as he emptied the twenty round magazine.

The driver of the catering truck shifted the truck into reverse and slammed on the accelerator as he watched his front escort being slaughtered. However, the armored car behind him wasn't quick enough and it was hit. The front bumper was crushed just before the back end of the truck was popped up on it, bringing the back wheels off the floor.

The second armor car was thrown into reverse and pulled away, allowing the catering truck's back wheels to slam onto the pavement and regain traction. The escort only backed up a few feet when it was rear ended by a dump truck and sent it skidding forward, just missing the Nozu truck as it wheeled around to head into the other direction of the intersection.

Harley put the dump truck into reverse and quickly backed up before wheeling the truck nearly in place to start to following the catering truck. The eighteen-wheeler started up and started down the road to wheel around at the next intersection in the hopes of paralleling the catering truck.

The Nozu truck accelerated surprisingly quickly and blew the red light of the first intersection it crossed, barely missing a few passing cars as the occupants were desperate to get away. After seeing the clown and his crew merciless slaughter their companions, they wanted to get just far enough away and ditch the truck. They'd rather take their chances with their mistress than with the crazy clown.

The dump truck ignored the stop light as well, but slammed into the front side of a car trying to cross the intersection. The truck barely slowed down and kept going while the car went spinning away.

The eighteen-wheeler continued down the parallel road, honking the horn the entire way down to signal any oncoming car not to dare try to cross an intersection in front of them.

The second armored car's rear may have been damaged, but it hadn't been disabled, so it was able to catch up behind the dump truck. The passenger stuck out most of his upper body and brandishing a German MP-38 submachine gun and started firing at the back of the dump truck.

The 9mm rounds harmlessly bounced off the heavy metal door.

The blonde in the driver's seat looked to the side mirror to see their company and a wicked smile formed on her face. It was a risk in losing the catering truck, but she didn't want to get trapped between whoever had Robbie and the goons in the following truck so… she slammed on her brakes.

Mrs. Lee's mob soldier wasn't quick enough to slam on the breaks as he had been too desperate to keep up with the dump truck. He paid for it as the car crashed into the back of the truck, crushing the front with his head slamming into the steering wheel and the goon in the passenger seat being thrown out of the window and head long into the back door of the dump truck. At the speed the armored car had been going to keep pace with the dump truck, he became a bloody mess on the door before his broken and smashed body slopped onto the pavement.

Harley slammed down on the accelerated and sped up to catch up with the fleeing catering truck.

Kneeling down and behind held secured by one of his shoulders from one of his men, the Joker shoulder and steadied his BAR to take the first clear shot at the armored car the next time it was seen in the next intersection as he had previously spotted it behind the dump truck from the parallel route. He was hoping his driver could actually get ahead of them and cut them off, but he wasn't naïve to the fact that the eighteen-wheeler wouldn't have the acceleration ability of the catering truck.

The car disappeared from behind the dump truck when it came back into view and was replaced with a sleek armored vehicle that looked like a cross between a Lamborghini and a tank catching up with the dump truck. The Joker felt in an instant that it had to be the Bat.

One of the clown face painted mobster opened fired on the black vehicle, but the rounds harmlessly bounced off. The clown mobster lifted his arm up and grabbed his soldier's forearm to stop him. He looked down at his boss stunned.

Joker shouted, "The Bat's off limits. She's trying to help. Pass the word!"

The sleek armored vehicle wheeled around the dump truck and accelerated in front of the truck before the black vehicle could head on an oncoming car.

The blonde behind the wheel of the dump truck frowned at being cutoff just as the passenger of the catering truck opened the window and started firing at the black 'tank'.

The road merged into a four lane highway, giving all those involved in the chase a little more room to maneuver.

The truck turned hard to the left to try to go in the opposite way up an exit ramp to the approaching overhead bridge in an attempt to lose the following vehicles. Of course that meant crossing over two opposing lanes. The vehicle wasn't fast enough to cross the lane and an oncoming car hit the right side of the truck's engine block. The oncoming car's front became an accordion and sent the truck spinning until too much weight shifted in the back and sent the vehicle to roll onto its side and skidded several yards.

It stopped to show at an angle towards the traffic that once was behind it. The fuel tank ruptured and started spilling its contents onto the road.

Mrs. Lee's mob soldiers climbed out from the side door and on top of the vehicle just as the dump truck and black armored vehicle pulled up behind them. They immediately and desperately fired at the dump truck's windshield.

Harley and the passenger ducked just in time as the windshield was filled with holes.

The Bat had a variety of weapons that she could have unleashed on them, but they were lethal and Robbie was in the truck and didn't want him caught in her line of fire.

One of Mrs. Lee's soldiers dropped from the upturned side of the truck straight into the puddle of gasoline. He didn't give it a second thought as he blasted away with his MP-38 at the dump truck.

The eighteen-wheeler arrived from a side street to pull up along to the left of the one-sided gun battle. The side door was still open and the Joker raised a submachine gun and cut loose with burst at the soldier standing on top of the truck, snuffing out the man's life and sending him tumbling off the truck.

The other two opened fire on the second Lee mobster. One of the shots, whether it was from Joker's crew or Mrs. Lee, it was unknown, ricocheted off the gasoline covered pavement, setting it ablaze and the flame quickly traveled to the underside of the truck and burst out into flames, nearly incinerating the mob soldier. He died instantly from the consuming flame and dropped to the asphalt.

The front/top hatch of the armored car opened and the Bat jumped out then ran to the back of the burning vehicle. She hit the locked handles to the back door with her armored gauntlet, desperately trying to break them. Her heart froze when she heard Robbie's screams from inside of the vehicle.

The Joker jumped out of the side of the tracker trailer and attempted to approach the vehicle, but from his and the rest of his crew's vantage point, it was too hot to approach and couldn't get around the flames to assist the vigilante.

The Bat wasn't much for praying, but she begged for a miracle as she continued to hear his screams while she tried to pull the locked and bent doors open to get inside.

Her prayer was answered as the next moment a chilly wind blew against the burning underside of the vehicle, freezing the wrecked underside in visible ice and extinguishing the flames. She turned to see up in astonishment 'The Man of Tomorrow' hovering in place for a moment before he landed on the side of the truck and punched through the side of the truck and tore open a gaping hole in the side of it. He jumped inside and in a blink, he was outside of it holding an unconscious and smoldering Robbie.

The Bat cupped her mouth as she could see that one side of Robbie was burned, his left side of his face nearly black. She was snapped out of her horror when Superman yelled, "Where's the nearest hospital?!"

The Joker having cautiously approached from behind Metropolis' adopted son and didn't hesitate to point past him and shout, "Gotham Community General! It's about five miles that way!"

The red cape wearing young man slightly bent his knees then soared into the air with a crack of air.

The costumed criminals and the vigilante looked up at him in awe as he flew faster than a speeding bullet towards the hospital then the group turned to one another, a potential standoff about to take place, but the approaching sirens interrupted them.

The Bat struggled to maintain an intimidating stare and the clown criminal was having the same trouble. She turned and dashed towards her vehicle while Harley had caught up from the dump truck and raised her Tommy gun ready to shoot her in the back. The Joker was quicker and pushed down the barrel towards the ground before she could get off a shot.

The blonde shouted in an accusatory tone, "What are you doing?!"

"You really want to shoot someone that was trying to save Robbie?"

The blonde slightly frowned, apparently partially shamed at his point.

He nodded to their getaway car and muttered, "Let's get out of here before the cops show up."

Gotham Community General

The hospital had the usual busyness to it with patients and visitors coming and going in a peaceful manner. The peacefulness was interrupted when Superman landed in front of the ER entrance with such force that the concrete cracked and partially fractured the concrete. He walked through the opening entrance and shouted, "I need a doctor!"

The staff and some of the waiting patients looked at him dumbfounded, never having seen the costumed hero other than in the newspapers and on television. The staff's shock was quickly dismissed when they saw the injured man in his arms.

One of the nurses quickly rolled a bed to him and he placed Robbie onto it. He stepped aside and let the nurses and doctors begin their work as they shouted for various things and rolled him deeper into the ER.

As the D.A. was rolled out of sight, the red cape wearing man's shoulders slumped and for the first time since his father died, he felt defeated.

* * *

Author's Note: Things have changed and there is no going back… the next chapter will be some fall out for a lot of people. Also, I decided that the Bat's ride would be the Tumbler from Nolan's films.


End file.
